IRS Forms for Small Business and Self-Employed Filers

Form 4562 reports depreciation, Section 179 expensing, bonus depreciation, listed property, and amortization.

Form 1040-ES is the worksheet and four payment vouchers self-employed taxpayers use to make quarterly estimated tax payments and avoid the underpayment penalty.

Form 1065 is the annual partnership return that issues K-1s to partners — relevant to small-business owners whenever two or more individuals jointly own an uni…

Form 1098 reports mortgage interest, points, and mortgage insurance premiums paid during the year — and is the source document for both Schedule A itemized ded…

Form 1099-INT reports interest income paid by banks, brokerages, and other payers — and is what a small-business owner receives on a business savings or money-…

Form 1099-K reports gross payments processed by payment-card networks and third-party settlement organizations like Stripe, PayPal, Square, Etsy, and Venmo Bus…

Form 1099-MISC reports rents (Box 1), royalties (Box 2), prizes (Box 3), other income, attorney gross-proceeds payments, and crop-insurance proceeds — replacin…

Form 1120-S is the annual return filed by an S corporation — including a single-owner S-corp formed by a former Schedule C filer who elected S status with Form…

Form 2210 calculates the underpayment penalty when quarterly estimated tax payments fell short of the safe-harbor threshold — and offers an annualized-income m…

Form 2553 elects S-corporation status for an eligible domestic corporation or LLC — usually filed within 75 days of the start of the tax year the election is t…

Form 3115 requests IRS consent to change an accounting method — from cash to accrual, to adopt or change a depreciation method, or to apply a tangible-property…

Part I of Form 4562 elects to expense up to the annual Section 179 dollar limit of qualifying property placed in service that year, subject to the investment-l…

Part II of Form 4562 reports special (bonus) depreciation under §168(k) — the percentage of which has been phasing down 20 points per year and applies automati…

Part V of Form 4562 collects the additional substantiation the IRS requires for listed property — passenger autos, other vehicles, and certain property used ou…

Part VI of Form 4562 amortizes startup costs, organizational costs, and Section 197 intangibles such as goodwill, covenants not to compete, and customer lists.

Form 7202 (used for the 2020 and 2021 COVID-related self-employed sick-and-family-leave credits) is a useful template for understanding how refundable credits…

Form 720 reports federal excise taxes on fuels, communications services, air transportation, indoor tanning, and a long list of other niche categories.

Form 8606 tracks the basis of nondeductible IRA contributions and is the form that documents a backdoor Roth conversion — failing to file it costs basis and in…

Form 8829 calculates the actual-expense method for the home-office deduction — Part I establishes business-use percentage, Part II allocates direct and indirec…

Form 8832 lets an eligible entity (including most LLCs) elect how it will be classified for federal tax purposes — disregarded entity, partnership, or associat…

Form 8889 reports HSA contributions, distributions, and the deductible portion of contributions — making the HSA one of the few above-the-line deductions self-…

Form 940 reports federal unemployment tax — 6% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages, with a 5.4% credit for state unemployment tax paid that brings the…

Form 941 reports quarterly federal income tax withholding, employer and employee Social Security and Medicare tax, and reconciles to deposits made via EFTPS du…

Form 944 is an alternative to quarterly Form 941 for very small employers whose annual employment-tax liability is $1,000 or less — filed once a year instead o…

Form SS-4 (or its online equivalent) is how a sole prop, LLC, partnership, or corporation gets an EIN — the federal tax ID required for opening business bank a…

Form W-3 is the cover sheet that accompanies paper Forms W-2 sent to the Social Security Administration — superseded electronically when W-2s are filed online…

Form W-9 is how a payer collects a vendor's legal name, business name, federal tax classification, and TIN — and is the prerequisite to issuing any 1099 at yea…

Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) reports each partner's share of partnership income, deductions, credits, and self-employment earnings — and is the source document for…

Schedule K-1 (Form 1120-S) reports an S-corp shareholder's share of income, separately stated items, and credits — distinct from the K-1 issued by a partnershi…

Form 1065 is the annual information return filed by partnerships and most multi-member LLCs.

Form 1120-S is the annual return filed by corporations that have elected S-corp status.

Form 2553 elects S-corporation status for a domestic corporation or eligible LLC.

Form 8832 elects how an eligible entity is taxed — as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation.

Form 1040-ES is the worksheet and payment voucher set for paying federal income and self-employment tax in quarterly installments.

Form 2210 calculates the underpayment penalty when quarterly estimates fall short of the safe harbor.

Form 4868 grants an automatic six-month extension to file an individual income tax return.

Form 7004 grants an automatic extension to file partnership, corporate, and certain other business returns.

Form 8889 reports HSA contributions, distributions, and the deductible HSA contribution amount.

Form 8829 calculates the deductible portion of home expenses attributable to a qualified home office.

Form 1040 is the master return that ties together all your income, adjustments, deductions, credits, and payments for the year.

Schedule C is the primary return that sole proprietors and single-member LLCs file each year to report business income and deduct ordinary and necessary expens…

Form 1096 is the cover sheet that transmits paper information returns (1099-NEC, 1099-MISC, 1098, etc.) to the IRS.

Form 1099-K reports payments processed by credit card companies, marketplaces, and third-party payment networks.

Form 1099-MISC reports rents, royalties, prizes, awards, attorney gross proceeds, and other miscellaneous income.

Form 1099-NEC reports payments of $600 or more made to nonemployee service providers during the calendar year.

Form W-9 collects the legal name, taxpayer identification number, and tax classification of a payee so the payer can issue accurate information returns.

Form 940 reports federal unemployment (FUTA) tax — a small payroll tax that funds state unemployment insurance programs.

Form 941 reports employee wages, tips, federal income tax withheld, and Social Security and Medicare taxes each quarter.

Form 944 is the annual alternative to Form 941 for very small employers with low payroll tax liability.

Form W-2 reports an employee's annual wages and the taxes withheld from their paychecks.

Form W-4 tells an employer how much federal income tax to withhold from each paycheck.

Form 8995 calculates the 20% qualified business income (QBI) deduction for taxpayers below the income threshold.

Form 8995-A is the long-form QBI worksheet used when taxable income exceeds the simplified-method threshold.

How to file delinquent Forms 8606 to establish IRA basis missed in prior years.

Form 5329 reports additional taxes on early IRA and retirement plan distributions, excess contributions, and missed required minimum distributions.

Form 8606 tracks nondeductible contributions to traditional IRAs and certain Roth IRA conversions and distributions.

A Roth IRA conversion moves money from a traditional IRA or pretax retirement account into a Roth IRA, paying ordinary income tax now in exchange for tax-free…

Schedule SE calculates the Social Security and Medicare tax owed on net earnings from self-employment.

Form 3115 requests IRS consent to change a taxpayer's method of accounting.