LLC Tax Filing Rules
LLCs are treated differently than other types of businesses for tax purposes. However, the taxes you pay are largely determined by the structure of your LLC and how you decide to be treated for tax purposes. If you're filing business taxes for an LLC, learn more about applicable rules and how your business structure affects your taxes.
The One Big Beautiful Bill that passed includes permanently extending tax cuts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including increasing the cap on the amount of state and local or sales tax and property tax (SALT) that you can deduct, makes cuts to energy credits passed under the Inflation Reduction Act, makes changes to taxes on tips and overtime for certain workers, reforms Medicaid, increases the Debt ceiling, and reforms Pell Grants and student loans. Updates to this article are in process. Check our One Big Beautiful Bill article for more information.

Key Takeaways
- If you’re the single member of a limited liability company (LLC), you’ll typically file your business tax information on Schedule C and report the profit or loss from your business on Form 1040.
- If you elect to be taxed as a partnership, you’ll prepare annual partnership tax returns using IRS Form 1065, but all income, deductions and credits are passed through to the partners and reported on their own tax returns.
- If you elect to be taxed as a corporation by filing IRS Form 8832, the default is to be treated as a C-Corporation. In this case, the business reports all income and deductions on Form 1120 each year and pays the corresponding income tax.
- You can choose to be treated as an S-Corporation for tax purposes. This passes through the business's income to the shareholders on a Schedule K-1.
How does the IRS classify an LLC?
The IRS mostly ignores LLCs for tax purposes and considers two or more people or businesses working together in a trade or business to be a partnership for tax purposes. However, if you are the sole owner of an LLC, then the IRS "disregards" your LLC and considers you a sole proprietor. The IRS refers to this as a “disregarded entity.” LLCs can be formed under state law and then elect how to be treated for federal taxes.
If you prefer the tax filing rules of a corporation to partnership or sole proprietorship taxation, then you have the option to elect corporate tax treatment by filing IRS Form 8832. Once you make this election, you typically cannot change to another tax designation again for five years.
What are the filing requirements for an LLC taxed as a partnership?
LLCs that are subject to the partnership tax rules don't actually pay tax on their business earnings. The partnership is responsible for preparing annual partnership tax returns using IRS Form 1065. This tax return is mostly for informational purposes; all income, deductions and credits are passed through to the partners and reported on their own tax returns.
The LLC reports each partner's share of these amounts on a Schedule K-1 at the end of the year. For example, if you and a friend create an LLC to run a business that is taxed as a partnership that earns $100,000 and has $60,000 of deductible business expenses, then each of you will receive a Schedule K-1 with $20,000 of net income. Both of you must then report this on your personal income tax returns. Essentially, the business will increase your personal taxable income by $20,000 each.
TurboTax Tip:
A member of an LLC can face double taxation if the LLC chooses to be taxed as a C-corporation, pays tax on the income, and distributes its profits to its owners. The tax law considers these distributions to be dividend payments, which are taxable to the recipient. So, the corporation pays taxes on the money, and then the money is taxed again as dividend income on the owners' tax returns.
What are the filing requirements for an LLC taxed as a corporation?
If the LLC elects corporate taxation, then the default is for it to be treated as a C-Corporation. In this case, the IRS will treat your business as a separate taxpayer in the same way you are a separate taxpayer from your friend. As a result, the business reports all income and deductions on Form 1120 each year and pays the corresponding income tax.
An entity classified as a corporation can elect to be treated as an S-Corporation for tax purposes. As with the partnership tax filing for LLCs above, making an election to be taxed as an S-Corp instead of as a C-Corp passes through the business's income and deductions to the owners on a K-1. S-Corps use Form 1120S to file their taxes, and no federal tax is paid at the corporate level.
Why do LLCs choose pass-through taxation?
Many LLCs choose to be taxed as one of the pass-through entities rather than as a C-Corp to avoid possible double taxation. The first level of tax occurs when the LLC files a corporate tax return and pays tax, and the second can happen if the corporation distributes its profits to its owners.
The tax law considers these distributions to be dividend payments, which are typically taxable to owners. But the corporation does not get to take a tax deduction for the payment of the dividends. So, the corporation pays taxes on the money and then the money is taxed again as dividend income on the owners' tax returns.
What happens when an LLC elects to be taxed as a Single Member?
Single-member LLCs are typically treated the same as sole proprietorships. The IRS disregards the LLC entity as being separate and distinct from the owner. Essentially, this means that the LLC typically files the business tax information with your personal tax returns on Schedule C. The profit or loss from your businesses is included with the other income you report on Form 1040.
How can TurboTax help me with filing my business taxes?
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