U.S. Business Taxes for Small For-Profit Businesses

Scope of Information in this Library Topic

This library could include thousands of links to tax-related sites. As with other topics in the library, there are enough links included below to cover the basics and help the reader find more information if needed. Regarding federal taxes (the type of taxes most written about), the most comprehensive overviews are included in IRS Publications 17 and 334 (links to these are included below). Many federal tax-related links on the Web are to articles that are basically a rewrite of information that's already in these two publications. Other types of taxes are reviewed below, too

Sections of This Topic Include

Educate Yourself -- Key Guides to Get Started
Basics -- Overviews of Small Business Tax Management
Tax Planning
Importance of Good Record Keeping
Do Your Own Taxes or Get Help?
Federal Income Taxes Obligations
Employee/Payroll Taxes Obligations
State and Local Sales and Use Tax Obligations
Other Taxes (Property, etc.)
Special Topic -- When Hiring, Need Independent Contractor or Employee?

General Resources

Internal Revenue Services (IRS) Sites
Non-IRS Tax Information and Resources

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library's Blogs Related to This Business Taxation

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to Business Taxation. Scan down the blog's page to see various posts. Also see the section "Recent Blog Posts" in the sidebar of the blog or click on "next" near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

Library's Business Planning Blog
Library's Building a Business Blog

Educate Yourself -- Key Publications For You to Get Started

Whatever the condition of your business finances, always pay your taxes. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) states that small businesses pay four kinds of taxes: Income tax, Self-employment tax, Employment taxes, and Excise taxes. The form of business determines what kinds of taxes you'll pay. (More on this later.)

If the nature of your business is fairly consistent from year to year, you may be able to manage your business taxes by yourself. However, you may be better off the first year to hire a tax advisor. BUT, you should still be aware of the basic process -- time spent studying taxes is time spent saving money! There are several basic publications from the IRS that you should get and review. The following 2 publications take about 3 hours to go through -- it will be some of the best time you spend to save money for your business. The following section "Basics -- Overviews of Small Business Tax Management" will help you, as well.

Get and review these IRS free publications

Your Federal Income Tax for Individuals (Publication 17)
Tax Guide for Small Business (Publication 334)

Know the Legal Description of Your Business

It matters whether you're a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation (and which type of corporation), limited liability corporation, etc. You probably know this already if you have registered your business with your state. Otherwise, review the materials in Enterprise Law.

Basics -- Overviews of Small Business Tax Management

After you've reviewed these publications, the following may be helpful for review.
Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business Taxes

Tax Planning -- Various Perspectives

Now that you've got some sense about business taxes, it'll help to stand back and think about the best approach to managing your taxes.
Tax Avoidance is Legal, Tax Evasion is Criminal
Paying Taxes Quarterly Saves Time

Importance of Good Record Keeping

Good tax management starts with good record keeping, especially financial records. Be sure you're familiar with financial records. See
Financial Statements

Do Your Own Taxes or Get Help?

If the nature of your business is fairly consistent from year to year, you may be able to manage your business taxes by yourself. However, you may be better off the first year to hire a tax advisor.
3 Types of Bookkeepers: Do You Need One and Which is Best for Your Business?
Tips for Choosing a Tax Preparer
How to Find a Tax Preparer for Your Small Business

Using a Payroll Service

As a new business, you should strongly consider using a payroll service. This type of service can work with your tax advisor (or provide tax advice, as well) to ensure regular and accurate withholdings for various types of taxes. The service can also produce the reports needed to file your yearly taxes. You might get a recommendation for a service by calling your local association of certified public accountants or several businesses that are similar in nature to yours. Your local Chamber of Commerce may know several good sources, as well.

Software Packages to Do Your Taxes

Guide to Tax Preparation Software for Small Business

Federal Income Taxes Obligations

Understanding Federal Income Tax Obligations

Employee/Payroll Tax Obligations

(includes Federal, State and Local Taxes)

Also see
Online Payroll Taxes -- Where to Get Help

State and Local Sales Tax Obligations

Understanding Your Sales Tax Obligations
Sales Taxes
State Tax Agencies

State Taxes Obligations

State Tax Agencies

Use Taxes

Other Taxes (property)

Other taxes

Special Topic -- When Hiring, Need Independent Contractor or Employee?

The IRS seems increasingly skeptical about business use of independent contractors. The IRS is concerned, for example, that businesses might be avoiding employment taxes by using independent contractors instead. Therefore, businesses must be careful when determining if they should hire a contractor or an employee. The following link will help you in this regard.
Consultants (hiring)

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Sites

Non-IRS Tax Information and Resources

The following sites include a great deal of various types of information about business taxes.
Yahoo!'s tax site
Small Business Taxes and Management (provides misc. news and updates to tax laws)
2018 State Business Tax Climate Index
National Association for the Self Employed

For the Category of Taxation (For-Profit):

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.