Why incorporate?

If your business is incorporated and you obey all the rules of running your business as a corporation, you can probably get away with buying insurance with lower limits. In the event you're sued and lose, only the assets of the corporation may be seized to satisfy a judgment. On the other hand, if you are self-employed , you generally need more liability insurance because you can be held personally responsible for judgments against your business.  (U.S. Chamber of  Commerce)

The self-employed in the United States are usually required to pay estimated income taxes quarterly. They pay both the employee and employer portions of the FICA tax and Medicare taxes, since they are considered both the employer and the employee. An employed person pays 7.65% (6.2% for FICA and 1.45% for Medicare) through a paycheck deduction, and the employer pays the other 7.65%. The self-employed person pays both sides of this tax, or 15.30% total. This tax is reported on Schedule SE of the IRS Form 1040.

Many self-employed choose to incorporate to reduce this tax. Before incorporation, a self-employed person making $100,000 in business profit would pay 15.30% of that profit in self-employment tax, or $15,300. But with an incorporated business, the business can pay the owner $50,000 in salary and $50,000 in dividends (called "distributions"). The owner pays 7.65% of the $50,000 in salary and his/her corporation pays the other 7.65%, for $7650 total. Distributions are not subject to self-employment tax, so there is no FICA/Medicare tax on the $50,000 in distributions. Thus the business owner may save $7,650 in taxes. However, tax laws can change, so it is usually advisable to seek the advice of a competent accountant.
 
Corporate tax refers to a direct tax levied by various jurisdictions on the profits made by companies or associations. As a general principle, this varies substantially between jurisdictions. In particular allowances for capital expenditure and the amount of interest payments that can be deducted from gross profits when working out the tax liability vary substantially. Also, tax rates may vary depending on whether profits have been distributed to shareholders or not. Profits which have been reinvested may not be taxed. (Wikipedia)

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