Updated September 7, 2026. Prices quoted are our published base prices for tax-year 2025 returns prepared in 2026; see the pricing page for the current list.
The short answer: an LLC does not have its own tax return. The IRS taxes an LLC according to how it is classified, and that classification decides which form you file, when it is due and what it costs to prepare. A single-member LLC files Schedule C inside the owner’s Form 1040 (our base price: $750). An LLC with two or more members files Form 1065 with a K-1 for each member ($1,200). An LLC that elected S corporation status files Form 1120-S ($1,200). One that elected C corporation status files Form 1120 ($1,200). Here is how to tell which one you are, what each return involves, what California adds on top, and when the S corp election is worth it.
Step one: how is your LLC classified?
Unless it has filed an election, the IRS applies a default. A domestic LLC with one owner is a “disregarded entity” — ignored for income tax, with its activity reported on the owner’s return. An LLC with two or more owners is a partnership by default. Either kind can change its classification by election: Form 8832 to be taxed as a C corporation, or Form 2553 to be taxed as an S corporation.
If you are not sure, look at the last return you filed, or check the IRS acceptance letter for any election (CP261 for an S corp election). If you have never filed a return for the LLC and never filed an election, you are on the default.
Single-member LLC: Schedule C on your personal return
The business’s income and expenses go on Schedule C, attached to your Form 1040, and the net profit is subject to self-employment tax (15.3% up to the Social Security wage base) on Schedule SE as well as income tax. Rental activity held in a single-member LLC goes on Schedule E instead. The return is due April 15 with the rest of your 1040 and can be extended to October 15.
What preparation involves: a profit and loss for the year reconciled to the business bank account, a fixed-asset list for depreciation, home office and vehicle records, health insurance premiums for the self-employed deduction, and estimated payments made. Our base price for a Schedule C return is $750, which includes the personal return it sits in. If the books are not reconciled, catch-up bookkeeping comes first.
Multi-member LLC: Form 1065 and K-1s
An LLC with two or more members files a partnership return, Form 1065, by March 15 (extendable to September 15), and issues a Schedule K-1 to each member showing their share of the profit, loss, guaranteed payments and distributions. The LLC itself pays no federal income tax; each member reports the K-1 on their own 1040 and pays income tax and, for active members, self-employment tax.
The late-filing penalty is the reason this deadline matters even for an LLC that owes nothing: $255 per member per month, up to 12 months, for returns due after December 31, 2025. What preparation involves is on our partnership tax return preparation page; the base price is $1,200 with all K-1s.
LLC taxed as an S corporation: Form 1120-S
An LLC that filed Form 2553 files Form 1120-S by March 15 and issues K-1s to its owners. The difference from a partnership is payroll: owner-employees must be paid a reasonable salary through W-2 payroll before taking distributions, and only the salary is subject to employment taxes. Distributions are not subject to self-employment tax, which is the entire reason people make the election. See S corp tax preparation for what the return involves; base price $1,200.
LLC taxed as a C corporation: Form 1120
Rare for small businesses, but it exists: an LLC that filed Form 8832 electing corporate status files Form 1120 by April 15 and pays the flat 21% corporate tax itself. Owners are taxed again on dividends. It can make sense for a company retaining profits or planning for outside investors; it rarely makes sense for an owner who takes the profit out each year. Base price $1,200.
Which return your LLC files: a quick decision path
- One owner, no election → Schedule C on Form 1040 (Schedule E for rentals).
- Two or more owners, no election → Form 1065 plus a K-1 per member.
- Any number of owners, Form 2553 accepted → Form 1120-S plus K-1s and owner payroll.
- Any number of owners, Form 8832 electing corporation → Form 1120.
- Married couple as the only two owners in a community-property state such as California → may choose to be treated as a single-member LLC and file Schedule C, or file as a partnership.
Should your LLC elect S corp status?
The election saves self-employment tax on the part of the profit taken as distributions rather than salary. It also adds cost: payroll service, a separate business return, and the state’s S corporation tax where one exists. A rough break-even for a single-owner business:
| Net profit | Schedule C: self-employment tax (approx.) | S corp: employment tax on a reasonable salary of 60% of profit (approx.) | Added costs of the S corp (payroll, 1120-S, CA 1.5% tax) | Rough annual difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $7,065 | $4,590 | about $3,000 | roughly break-even |
| $100,000 | $14,130 | $9,180 | about $3,500 | saves roughly $1,500 |
| $150,000 | $21,194 | $13,770 | about $4,000 | saves roughly $3,400 |
These are illustrations, not quotes: the self-employment tax figures use the 92.35% base and 15.3% rate without the wage-base cap or the half-deduction, and the salary assumption is the variable the IRS cares most about. Below roughly $50,000 to $60,000 of steady profit the election usually costs more than it saves. Above $100,000 it usually pays. In between, it depends on your state, your other income and how much you actually leave in the business. We run the real numbers before recommending it.
Timing. Form 2553 is due within 2 months and 15 days after the start of the tax year it should apply to (March 15 for a calendar-year LLC), or any time in the preceding year. Missed it? Late-election relief under Revenue Procedure 2013-30 is available for up to three years and 75 days if you can show reasonable cause and have been acting like an S corp in the meantime.
California: what every LLC owes the state
California adds a layer that surprises out-of-state owners and new founders:
- The $800 annual LLC tax, due by the 15th day of the fourth month of the tax year (April 15 for calendar-year LLCs), every year the LLC exists and is registered or doing business in California — whether or not it had income and whether or not it filed.
- The LLC fee on gross receipts, for LLCs taxed as partnerships or disregarded entities: $900 at $250,000 or more, $2,500 at $500,000, $6,000 at $1 million, and $11,790 at $5 million or more. An estimate is due by the 15th day of the sixth month.
- Form 568, the LLC return, filed with the federal return for disregarded and partnership LLCs.
- LLCs taxed as S corporations file Form 100S instead and pay 1.5% of net income with the same $800 minimum (waived in the corporation’s first year). This is the “CA 1.5% tax” in the break-even table above, and it is why the election clears the hurdle a little later in California than elsewhere.
- Unfiled years still owe the $800. If the LLC has years it never filed, the annual tax and the FTB’s own late penalties have been accruing. See unfiled tax returns.
Other states
Most states follow the federal classification and tax the owners rather than the LLC, but many charge an annual report fee, a franchise tax or a gross-receipts tax, and several — including Tennessee, Texas and Washington — tax LLCs at the entity level regardless of federal status. If your LLC is registered in one state and you live in another, or it sells into several, the state side is usually where the return gets complicated, and it is part of what we scope before quoting.
What LLC tax preparation costs
An LLC’s price depends on how it is taxed, not on being an LLC. Schedule C returns start at $750 (including the personal return), and partnership, S corporation and C corporation returns start at $1,200 with owner K-1s. What moves the price is the same in every case: unreconciled books, additional states, many owners, and fixed-asset or basis schedules that need rebuilding. Owners’ personal returns start at $300 when we prepare them alongside the business return. We confirm the full scope and price before work begins, and the same team can keep the books through the year on a monthly bookkeeping plan, which is what keeps the return at the base price.
Common questions
Does an LLC file a separate tax return?
Only if it is taxed as a partnership, S corporation or C corporation. A single-member LLC reports on the owner’s personal return.
Do I need to file if my LLC had no income?
A partnership or corporate LLC generally still files, and a California LLC still owes the $800 annual tax and Form 568. A single-member LLC with no activity has nothing to report on Schedule C, but the state filing may still apply.
How is a single-member LLC taxed?
As a disregarded entity: Schedule C (or E) on the owner’s Form 1040, with self-employment tax on the net profit from an active business.
Can an LLC be taxed as an S corp?
Yes, by filing Form 2553. The LLC stays an LLC legally; only its tax treatment changes.
What tax form does an LLC use?
Schedule C (single member), Form 1065 (multi-member), Form 1120-S (S corp election) or Form 1120 (C corp election), plus the state return that goes with it.
Not sure which of these is you? That is the most common starting point, and it takes one conversation to settle. Tell us about your LLC and we will confirm how it is taxed before quoting anything.
Sources
- IRS, Limited liability company (LLC) — irs.gov
- IRS, Single member limited liability companies — irs.gov
- IRS, Instructions for Form 2553 — irs.gov
- IRS, S corporation compensation and medical insurance issues — irs.gov
- IRS, Failure to file penalty (partnership and S corporation amounts) — irs.gov
- California FTB, Limited liability company — ftb.ca.gov
- California FTB, S corporations — ftb.ca.gov
Questions about how this applies to your situation? We can talk it through and point you to the right next step.