Do I File My Business Tax Returns Quarterly or Annually? Small Business Tax Questions

Have you started a small business and need to know when to file your tax returns? Perhaps you’ve heard about filing quarterly returns and are wondering if that requirement applies to you? Read on to get answers to these important questions.

Annual Income Tax Returns. All small businesses must file a return annually. Generally speaking, if your business has a calendar year-end, you must file one of the following business income tax forms by the due date listed below:

Sole Proprietorship – Schedule C, as part of your personal return, is due April 15. Partnership – Form 1065 is due April 15. C Corporation – Form 1120 is due March 15. S Corporation – Form 1120S is due March 15.

Limited Liability Companies (LLC) get their own special explanation, for they’re a unique business entity. An LLC can be taxed like any of the above-mentioned entities. However your LLC is treated for tax purposes determines the appropriate tax form and the accompanying due date.

Please read through this particular blog post properly, the problem and the plans have a range of variants. Quarterly Tax Returns. Here there are 2 possibilities. First, if you’re a self-employed sole proprietor who files Schedule C as part of your personal return, you may be required to make quarterly estimated income tax payments via Form 1040-ES. This is probably what you have heard about when people talk about “filing quarterly taxes“.

These quarterly payments are due April fifteen (first quarter), June fifteen (second quarter), September fifteen (third quarter) and January fifteen (fourth quarter). The purpose of these payments is to comply with our federal “pay as you go” tax system. The payments are for both federal income taxes as well as self-employment taxes. Failure to make these payments can result in a penalty for underpayment of estimated tax payments, even if you pay your balance due with your return on April 15. So be sure to determine whether you must make quarterly estimated tax payments.

A second type of quarterly return you may have to file are for payroll taxes. If you have employees, you must issue paychecks and withhold taxes from those paychecks. Those payroll tax withholdings must be paid within a certain timeframe, depending on the amount. And there are also federal payroll tax returns that must be filed. The most common one is Form 941, which must be filed within one month after the end of each calendar quarter (April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31).

If you have no employees, you do not have to deal with payroll and the small mountain of paperwork that accompanies it. Many sole proprietorships and partnerships fall into that category. But if you’re a corporation (or an LLC taxed as a corporation), and you’re performing services for your business, you must pay yourself reasonable compensation as an employee of your business, and therefore will be required to issue yourself paychecks and file the resulting quarterly payroll tax forms.

Looking for more small business tax deductions? For a free copy of the Special Report “How to Instantly Double Your Small Business Tax Deductions” visit http://www.YouSaveOnTaxes.com. Wayne Davies is author of three ebooks on tax reduction strategies for small business owners and the self-employed.