When you say that you did not "make any income," does this mean that you had no business activity at all? Or does it mean instead that you received revenue (income), but that your expenses were equal to, or greater than, your income.
If the former situation is the case, then no, you don't have to file a federal tax return to report a no activity tax year for your LLC. However, in certain states, such as California for example, there still is a minimum state filing requirement, along a minimum state tax due, simply for the fact that your LLC continues in existence. However, California aside, most states don't have such a separate requirement.
If the latter situation above is true, then you do need to file a tax return that includes your LLC revenue and expenses (even if you didn't make any profit in the traditional sense). Thus, this is a way of saying that a flat business year still needs to be reported, as such, on a income tax return.
Of course, if your LLC business operated at a loss, then you may indeed be able to take a tax deduction for that.
Finally, if your LLC is a single-member owner (that means you alone), then it is considered a disregarded entity for tax purposes by the IRS. You would file such an LLC tax return using Form 1040 Schedule C. A multi-member LLC is taxed as either a Partnership or a Corporation. This is a topic much more detailed than we can effectively address here. If your LLC has multiple owners, you would be best served by hiring a local tax professional who can assist you with all the tax difficulties that ownership structure entails. A single-member LLC is much easier to understand.
Thank you for asking this important question.
