My husband and I own an LLC- he's a carpenter. I take care of paperwork. IRS says we need to both fill out a K-1 with our 1065. Can someone explain this to me?

[mdashner7]

We live in Wisconsin.

[rjs]

Since you live in a community property state, you have a choice of two ways to handle your LLC. (I am assuming that you and your husband are the only owners of the LLC.)

One option is to treat the LLC as a partnership. That means that the LLC has to file it's own Form 1065 partnership tax return, separate from your personal Form 1040 joint tax return. The partnership return will include a Schedule K-1 for each partner. Filling out the Schedule K-1 for each partner is part of the process of preparing the partnership tax return. You have to enter the information from each Schedule K-1 in your personal tax return.

The other option is to treat the LLC as a "disregarded entity." That means that you file your tax return as if the LLC didn't exist. You and your spouse would each include a Schedule C in your personal tax return for your respective shares of the business income and expenses. No partnership tax return, and no Schedule K-1 is required.

The person at the IRS who told you that you have to fill out a Schedule K-1 might not have realized that you are in a community property state. If you were not in a community property state you would not have the option to treat the LLC as a disregarded entity. You would have to treat it as a partnership. If you do choose to treat it as a partnership, and you file a Form 1065 partnership tax return, the Schedule K-1 for each partner is a required part of the partnership tax return.

You might benefit from consulting a local accountant who can explain these choices to you and show you how to handle the taxes for your LLC.

[tagteam]

If you applied for an EIN (employer identification number) for your multi-member LLC, then the IRS will expect a Form 1065 to be filed on behalf of the LLC and a K-1 issued to each of the owners. 

Since you reside in a community property state, however, you and your husband have the option of filing separate Schedules C rather than Form 1065 (which is essentially a "business" income tax return).

See https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-02-69.pdf

Otherwise, a 1065 (and associated K-1s) need to be prepared and filed for the LLC.

See https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1065#idm140538038032800

[rjs]

Note that, based on Section 4.03 of Revenue Procedure 2002-69, which tagteam gave you a link to, you can change the way you treat the LLC from year to year. Treating it one way in one year does not commit you to continue treating it the same way in future years. Also note that the Revenue Procedure says that the IRS will accept the treatment that you choose, either way. So having an EIN for the LLC might make the IRS expect you to file a partnership tax return, but you are not required to do so, even if you have an EIN.

[Carl]

Can someone explain this to me?

Since the partnership/multi-member LLC will file it's own physically separate 1065 Partnership return, that means you have to use TurboTax Business for that. (Different from Home & Business). That partnership return is due to the IRS by March 15. When you complete the Partnership return using the Business program, a K-1 will be produced for each owner of the business. You will print the K-1's and physically provide them to each owner. Each owner can't even start their 1040 personal tax return until they have that K-1. It does not matter that the owners are married and filing joint. Each owner will enter their own physically separate K-1 information into their joint tax return, when they get to that point in the program.