Do i need to file taxes for my business if i only opened a business account but didn't open it the business yet?

[Jessica J]

What if I told them I’d have a wages and a w-2 for this year but due to unforeseen le circumstances won’t open my business till next year. They sent a letter in April waning me to file a 941 by the end of July, do I still have to file one or do I have to contact them and say I’m not operating this year?

[TomD8]

@Jessica J --

Form 941 is to be filled out by the employer who issued you the W2.

If you are a self-employed sole proprietor, you cannot pay yourself wages or issue a W2 to yourself.  Instead, you must report your self-employment income (and expenses) on Schedule C (Form 1040).  You’ll figure your self-employment tax on Schedule SE. Schedule SE is required if your self-employment income minus expenses is at least $400.

[VolvoGirl]

Or you told them (told who?) you would be paying employees and issue them a W2?

[Carl]

I would highly recommend you seek professional help from a CPA or business attorney. Here's what I know, and it's not all inclusive.

My assumptions:

- You have registered your business with the state of FL as a single member LLC in 2022 with the default status of "active"

- You have hired one or more employees in 2022 who are actual employees whom you will issue a W-2 to in January of 2023.

- Your business is not yet "open for business" and will not be open for business on or before Dec 31, 2022.

- You will be reporting all business income/expenses on SCH C as a part of your personal 1040 tax return. (Doesn't matter if you're filing status will be single or joint)

Things I am assuming you already know:

 - Under no circumstances will you issue yourself a W-2, 1099-NEC, 1099-MISC or any other type of tax reporting document. (A SCH C business just doesn't work that way.)

If you are paying employees wages in 2022, it does not matter if you are open for business or not. You need to file a federal tax return with a SCH C to show the wages paid to employees so you can claim those wages as an expense. If you can't deduct those expenses in 2022 from the business income because the business has no income, that's fine. You'll be able to carry the loss over to the 2023 tax return. But if you don't "claim" the expense on your 2022 tax return, then you can't carry it over and claim it on your 2023 tax return.

Now FL does not tax personal income. However, you may still be required to pay the state UC Tax (Unemployment Compensation) on those wages.

At the federal level, you will need to file IRS FORM 940 to report the taxes withheld from employee wages and paid to the IRS, as well as the employer share of those taxes paid to the state.

So if you have employees in 2022 that you are paying wages to, weather the business is open or not doesn't matter. You would still file a tax return and form 940 .at the federal level, as well as the state forms necessary for FL to show the UC Tax payment. For more information on the UC tax requirements see https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/taxesfees/Pages/reemployment.aspx

Note that Florida refers to this tax as the "Reemployment Tax".

The above is not everything. It's just what I know being self-employed myself. So you need to seek professional help on this in your first year. Not doing things right your first year can result in some pretty hefty fines and penalties at both the federal and state level that can potentially bankrupt your business before you even get it off the ground. So please, seek professional help.