What is the minimum income that a 1099 business has to make to be required to file taxes?

[ChristinaR · Accepted solution]

Someone who receives a 1099-MISC for their work as a self-employed individual, sole-proprietor, or independent contractor is required to file a return if they have net earnings of $400 or more. (Your net earnings are equal to the gross revenue you earned minus all deductible business expenses you incurred.)

If this is the case, you are required to report your income and expenses on Schedule C and file a Schedule SE along with your Form 1040 in order to pay self-employment tax.  You can do this with the Self-Employed version of TurboTax.

Please see the following IRS link for more helpful information:  https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employed-individuals-tax-center  

[deebo2002]

What if I have a corporation or LLC? Are the guidelines the same?

[ChristinaR]

No. Per IRS guidelines, a corporation is required to file a return (a 1120S) even if they have no taxable income.  For an LLC, filing requirements depend if it is a multi-member LLC or single-member, and what it has been elected to be treated as.  For a single-member LLC, the IRS allows it to be "disregarded" as separate from its owner and you're allowed to report the income and expenses on the personal 1040 return (with the above rules). Please see page 2 of these instructions: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1120.pdf">https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1120.pdf</a>.

[deebo2002]

Thank you! This really helps.