Updated July 2, 2020:

How to File Quarterly Taxes for LLC

If you have an LLC, you need to know how to file quarterly taxes for the LLC. You will need to pay quarterly taxes as well as annual taxes, and it is important that you know when the quarterly taxes are due to prevent additional tax implications, as even underpaying can lead to tax penalties. Quarterly tax payments are due on the following dates:

• April 15 (1st Quarter)

• June 15 (2nd Quarter)

• September 15 (3rd Quarter)

• January 15 (4th Quarter)

Since an LLC is a unique business structure that is created by state statute, you will need to be fully aware of what is required of you depending on the state in which you register your LLC. You have many choices when it comes to taxes. You can choose to be taxed as a corporation, sole proprietorship, or a partnership.

With that being said, if you form a single-member LLC, it will be automatically taxed as a sole proprietorship. You can elect to be taxed as a corporation or as a disregarded entity. In order to be treated as a corporation, you will have to file IRS Form 8832 and elect to be taxed as such. If you want to be taxed as a disregarded entity, you can only do so if your LLC doesn’t require an Employer Identification Number (EIN). Businesses with no employees and no excise tax liability need not obtain an EIN. In this case, the single-member uses his or her own personal social security number on the tax documents.

If you operate a multi-member LLC, it is automatically treated as a partnership, unless and until you elect to have it treated as a corporation for tax purposes. If you are unhappy with the way in which your LLC is being taxed, you can petition the IRS to be taxed in a different way.

Quarterly Tax Returns

As previously noted, as an LLC, you might elect to be taxed as a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or as a disregarded entity. The quarterly tax requirements for your LLC will depend on which business structure you elect to be taxed as. For example, S corporations can avoid having to make estimated quarterly tax payments, however, LLCs taxed as S corps still must pay the quarterly taxes.

If you are an LLC that elects to be treated as a sole proprietorship for tax purposes, you will need to file Schedule C as part of your own personal tax return. However, for quarterly payments, you might have to make such payments via Form 1040-ES. These quarterly payments include both payments for federal income taxes, as well as self-employment taxes.

Another type of quarterly return you might have to file is for payroll taxes. The most common payroll tax return is File 941, which should be filed within one month at the end of each quarter (i.e. April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31). However, if you have no employees, then you will not be required to pay this tax. Generally, sole proprietorships and partnerships are required to pay this tax, as the members pay themselves compensation through the business. But corporations might be required to pay this tax as well, if an owner or shareholder is paid some sort of compensation through the business.

Single-Member LLC Tax Filing

If you operate a single-member LLC, you’ll use Schedule C to report both income and losses. You’ll then attach that schedule to your personal tax return on Form 1040. If your company has passive income, i.e. rent, royalties, etc., then you will input this information on Schedule E. You will then pay self-employment tax if your net gain was at least $400 in the taxable year. You will then complete Schedule SE and attach it to your individual tax return (Form 1040). If you have employees that you withhold federal taxes from, you will then file payroll taxes for those employees by filing Form 941. If withholding for the year is less than $1,000, then you will file Form 943. The company must also provide its employees with a W-2, while filing both a W-2 and W-3 on behalf of its employees.

If you need help filing quarterly taxes for your LLC, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel’s marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5-percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law, and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with, or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.