Small-Business Taxes for Beginners: A 2025 Guide

Small-business taxes aren’t one-size-fits-all. You’ll need to take specific steps come tax time. Those depend on your business’s structure and whether you have employees, among other factors.

If this is your first time prepping for small-business taxes, start by checking off some universal “musts.” These tasks will help you understand your business’s tax responsibilities and the tax breaks available to you.

Here’s a guide to small-business taxes for beginners.

This is an important first step because it helps you determine which tax forms and deadlines apply to you.

There are five main business structures for tax purposes:

Don’t remember which structure you chose? LLCs, corporations and partnerships typically need to register with the state they’re located in. In that case, you should be able to confirm your business’s entity via your state department’s online portal.

If your business is a partnership, corporation or sole proprietorship, your tax classification follows suit. Figuring out LLC business taxes is a little trickier.

The IRS doesn’t have a fixed way of taxing all LLCs. Instead, it taxes single-member LLCs as sole proprietorships and multi-member LLCs as partnerships. That’s the default, unless you chose to be classified as a corporation when you started your business. This would have involved filling out specific forms.

Most businesses need a business tax ID, also called an employer identification number (EIN), to file taxes. These businesses include LLCs, partnerships, corporations and any operation with employees.

The IRS doesn’t require sole proprietors to get an EIN if they don’t have employees. However, having an EIN can put them in a better position to grow down the road. For example, businesses generally need an EIN to hire employees. Additionally, some banks require EINs to open a business bank account.

After you confirm your business structure, tax classification and EIN, you can start filling out your tax forms. Even if it’s not tax time yet, it’s still a good idea to know these forms and their deadlines.

Here are the main types of taxes your business may be responsible for filing, along with when each is due.

These are the deadlines for most businesses:

• Sole proprietorship: File Schedule C with Form 1040 by April 15. 

• Partnership: File Form 1065, U.S. Return of Partnership Income, and distribute K-1s to all partners by March 15. 

• C corporation: File Form 1120, U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return, by April 15. 

• S corporation: File Form 1120-S, U.S. Income Tax Return, by March 15.

If your fiscal year doesn’t start on Jan. 1, your deadlines will differ. They’ll generally fall on the 15th day of the fourth month after your fiscal year ends. That window is shorter if your fiscal year ends on June 30. You’ll have to file after three months, by Sept. 15.

Though you file federal returns just once per year, you will likely need to make estimated tax payments on them quarterly.

Businesses may also owe state and local taxes, depending on their structure and location. Since there’s so much variation, we suggest finding a small-business tax advisor to help your business meet its obligations. Usually, deadlines for filing federal and state income taxes are the same.

Forty-five states levy state sales tax, and 38 states implement local sales tax as of July 2025, according to the Tax Foundation. The highest average combined rates exceed 10%, while the lowest fall just below 2%.

Due dates vary depending on your state and how much your business owes. You may need to file returns monthly, quarterly or yearly. Your state’s tax department website will have more information.

Businesses with employees should file Form 940 to report Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) taxes by Jan. 31. And if the business owes more than $500 in FUTA taxes over the course of a year, it needs to make at least one quarterly payment in addition to filing annually.

Businesses must also file Form 941 on a quarterly basis. This reports the federal income, Social Security and Medicare taxes they’ve withheld from employee checks. Due dates fall on the last day of the month that comes after the end of the quarter.

In addition to submitting these tax forms, you’ll need to make employment tax payments. Due dates for these depend on if you owe less than $50,000 (pay monthly) or more than that amount (pay semimonthly).

Self-employed business owners may also need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on their own income. The self-employment tax rate is 15.3% as of August 2025, according to the IRS.

These businesses must file Schedule SE (Form 1040) by April 15 to determine how much they owe. Additionally, they’ll need to make quarterly estimated tax payments.

Businesses that sell certain goods or services must file Form 720 quarterly to report what they owe in excise tax. This applies to businesses that deal with products like fuel, tobacco and alcohol. Federal, state and local governments can all levy these taxes.

It’s important to remember that tax-filing due dates don’t always line up tax payment deadlines. For example, businesses file their federal income tax returns once a year. But they need to make estimated tax payments on them quarterly.

Businesses need to make employment and self-employment tax payments more frequently, too. Payroll software can help make sure those payments are made on time.

Our small-business tax deductions guide can help you decrease your business’s taxable income. For example, your business may be able to deduct expenses related to things like auto expenses, travel expenses and property rent.