Form 1120-S is a tax document S corporations use to report their income, losses, deductions, and credits to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This form serves as the S corporation’s annual tax return and is crucial for the IRS to ensure that the income passed through to shareholders is reported correctly. It details the corporation’s financial activities throughout the year, including total income, taxable income, and profits distributed to shareholders, which are taxed at their individual tax rates.
This form is essential for S corporations because it aligns with the pass-through taxation structure, where the corporation pays no federal income tax. Instead, the corporation’s income or losses are passed through to its shareholders and taxed at individual rates. By using Form 1120-S, S corporations ensure compliance with IRS rules and provide clear, transparent financial information to shareholders for their personal tax filings
Other IRS Forms for Corporations
There are some other forms corporations should use to report financial information to the IRS. You can learn more about them on our pages with other IRS forms.
You should submit the form to the IRS, and you can send it either by regular mail or digitally. Moreover, in some cases, you must file the document electronically: it depends on how many returns your corporation files during the year. If the corporation files 10 or more returns of any type during the calendar year (Forms W-2 and 1099 included), it must use the IRS e-file system.
If you file your papers by mail, the Service’s website will help you with the list of offices where you should send the documents (the address depends on the state where you file).
Attach every schedule and form that supports the return, and give each shareholder a Schedule K-1. Do not forget to gather them all and attach them to the form you plan to file.
The deadline for such documents’ filing depends on the considered period. For a calendar tax year, file no later than March 15, or the next business day when March 15 falls on a weekend or legal holiday. If you follow a fiscal year, the last day is the 15th day of the third month after the end of your tax year.