Do i file taxes if my business made no money

The form of business you operate determines what taxes you must pay and how you pay them. The following are the five general types of business taxes.

• Income Tax

• Estimated Taxes

• Self-Employment Tax

• Employment Taxes

• Excise Tax

Income Tax

All businesses except partnerships must file an annual income tax return. Partnerships file an information return. The form you use depends on how your business is organized. Refer to Business Structures to find out which returns you must file based on the business entity established.

The federal income tax is a pay-as-you-go tax. You must pay the tax as you earn or receive income during the year. An employee usually has income tax withheld from his or her pay. If you do not pay your tax through withholding, or do not pay enough tax that way, you might have to pay estimated tax. If you are not required to make estimated tax payments, you may pay any tax due when you file your return. For additional information refer to Publication 583.

Estimated tax

Generally, you must pay taxes on income, including self-employment tax (discussed next), by making regular payments of estimated tax during the year. For additional information, refer to Estimated Taxes. 

Self-Employment Tax

Self-employment tax (SE tax) is a social security and Medicare tax primarily for individuals who work for themselves. Your payments of SE tax contribute to your coverage under the social security system. Social security coverage provides you with retirement benefits, disability benefits, survivor benefits, and hospital insurance (Medicare) benefits.

Generally, you must pay SE tax and file Schedule SE (Form 1040 or 1040-SR) if either of the following applies.

• If your net earnings from self-employment were $400 or more.
• If you work for a church or a qualified church-controlled organization (other than as a minister or member of a religious order) that elected an exemption from social security and Medicare taxes, you are subject to SE tax if you receive $108.28 or more in wages from the church or organization.

Note: There are special rules and exceptions for aliens, fishing crew members, notary public, state or local government employees, foreign government or international organization employees, etc. For additional information, refer to Self-Employment Tax.

Employment Taxes

When you have employees, you as the employer have certain employment tax responsibilities that you must pay and forms you must file. Employment taxes include the following:

• Social security and Medicare taxes
• Federal income tax withholding
• Federal unemployment (FUTA) tax

For additional information, refer to Employment Taxes for Small Businesses.

Excise Tax

This section describes the excise taxes you may have to pay and the forms you have to file if you do any of the following.

• Manufacture or sell certain products.
• Operate certain kinds of businesses.
• Use various kinds of equipment, facilities, or products.
• Receive payment for certain services.

Form 720 - The federal excise taxes reported on Form 720, consist of several broad categories of taxes, including the following.

• Environmental taxes.

• Communications and air transportation taxes.

• Fuel taxes.

• Tax on the first retail sale of heavy trucks, trailers, and tractors.

• Manufacturers taxes on the sale or use of a variety of different articles

Form 2290 - There is a federal excise tax on certain trucks, truck tractors, and buses used on public highways. The tax applies to vehicles having a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more. Report the tax on Form 2290. For additional information, see the instructions for Form 2290 .

Form 730 - If you are in the business of accepting wagers or conducting a wagering pool or lottery, you may be liable for the federal excise tax on wagering. Use Form 730, to figure the tax on the wagers you receive.

Form 11-C - Use Form 11-C, Occupational Tax and Registration Return for Wagering, to register for any wagering activity and to pay the federal occupational tax on wagering.

Excise tax has several general excise tax programs. One of the major components of the excise program is motor fuel. For additional information, refer to Excise Taxes.

For information on the third coronavirus relief package, please visit our “American Rescue Plan: What Does it Mean for You and a Third Stimulus Check” blog post.

Key Takeaways

• It's perfectly legal to file a tax return even if your income falls below the IRS minimum requirement to file.

• If you qualify for certain tax credits but owe no tax, you might be able to claim the excess tax credit as a refund when you file your return.

• Filing a tax return typically starts the clock running for the amount of time the IRS can audit your return for a given year. If you don't file, the IRS can come back and perform an audit for that year.

Any year you have minimal or no income, you may be able to skip filing your tax return and the related paperwork. However, it's perfectly legal to file a tax return showing zero income, and this might be a good idea for a number of reasons.

Income requirements

Even if you earned income last year, if it falls below the IRS minimum you don't have to file a tax return. The minimum varies according to your age and filing status—whether you are:

• single,
• head of household,
• filing jointly with your spouse or
• you can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's taxes.

The IRS also adjusts the minimum amount of earned income from year to year for inflation. Individuals who fall below the minimum may still have to file a tax return under certain circumstances; for instance, if you had $400 in self-employment earnings, you'll have to file and pay self-employment tax.

If you have no income, however, you aren't obligated to file.

Credits may earn you a tax refund

The IRS offers a number of tax credits that you can take directly off your taxes rather than your income like a deduction. If the credit is more than you owe in taxes, in some cases, you can claim the excess credit as a refund.

If you qualify for tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit, you can receive a refund even if your tax is $0. To claim the credits, you have to file your 1040 and other tax forms.

For your 2021 tax return only, the Child Tax Credit is expanded by the American Rescue Plan raising the per-child credit to $3,600 or $3,000 depending on the age of your child. The credit is also fully refundable for 2021. To get money into the hands of families faster, the IRS will be sending out advance payments of the 2021 Child Tax Credit beginning in July of 2021. For updates and more information, please visit our 2021 Child Tax Credit blog post.

TurboTax Tip: If you qualify for tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Child Tax Credit, you can receive a refund even if your tax is $0. To claim the credits, you have to file your 1040 and other tax forms.

File now, deduct later

The IRS limits how much you can claim with various deductions and credits. For example, you can't claim a home office deduction so large that it would put your business into the red. Instead, you claim zero business income for the year, and carry any leftover deduction into the next year.

If you have deductions or credits carrying over,

• you can't claim them if you have no income, but
• you need to file your taxes to claim them in a future year when you do have income.

Protect yourself from future audits

The IRS operates under a statute of limitations when it comes to auditing old tax returns.

If you've reported your information accurately, in most cases they can only go back three years. However, the clock only starts for a given year when you actually file your tax return.

• If you don't file, the IRS can always come back and perform an audit.
• For this reason, the IRS recommends that even if you don't file, you still keep any relevant financial records indefinitely.

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