Small business taxed as S-corp, can I carry forward part of taxable income from year 2023 to 2024 for continuing operating business.

[gousecris]

Hi,

I have a big question. I have started small business taxed as s-corp. For 2023, I have taxable income from business. I wanted to set aside part of the taxable income for 2024 to continue operating the business before it generates the revenue to pay for wages and expenses. Is it possible, I mean allowed to set aside $X from the taxable income of $Total and pay taxes only for the remaining ($Total - $X)?

[MinhT1]

No.

You can't defer part of the net income of your S-Corp to be taxed in a future year. All income for 2023 will flow through the S-corp's shareholders to be taxed in 2023.

[gousecris]

is there any way I can set aside part of the 2023 revenue generated for 2024 operating budget to continue operations and pay wages/expenses?

[DavidD66]

As MinhT1 said, you cannot choose to defer some of your income to future years to avoid paying tax on it in the current year.  If 2023 is your first year of operations and the first year you are filing a tax return for your S-Corp, you can choose to use the accrual method of accounting.  You choose an accounting method when you file your first tax return. If you later want to change your accounting method, you must generally get IRS approval.  

If some of the revenue you received in 2023 had been earned as of the end of 2023, it would not be included in your 2023 taxable income under the accrual method.  That said, I strongly recommend you don't choose the accrual method of accounting, especially if you are doing so based on a one time situation.  It requires significantly more work from a record keeping standpoint than the cash method.