In general, the owner of an S corporation must pay themself a fair market salary for the work they do. That salary is reported on form 941 and the company must issue a W-2. (In fact, it is permissible to pay one lump sum, such as on December 30, but a fair market salary must be paid.) The company pays 7.65% social security and medicare, and possible FUTA, and the employee pays 7.65% social security and medicare.
If there is profit after paying a fair salary, that profit can be paid out and taxed as income without paying employment taxes. But if you take no salary and try to take all the profit without paying self-employment tax or employment taxes, well, that's one of the biggest audit red flags the IRS has.
I don't know about paying a salary if the company loses money. @rjs or @Hal_Al ?
"because I had income in 2021 when I was LLC and paid taxes, so the money I paid myself was tax free."
This is a very odd statement, and I don't think you actually mean what you say. When you are a disregarded entity (like an SM LLC) you are the company and the company is you, you are the same. You pay SE tax on the net profit from the business. I think you are confusing what you might actually "cash out" of the business for your financial needs and your taxable income.
