Business tax deadline 2024: When are the business tax filing deadlines?

Filing taxes is hard enough when you only have your own payments to worry about. When you own a business, filing taxes becomes more complicated.

If you’re wondering when your business taxes are due, read on: You'll find all the important business tax deadline dates below.

📝 Table of contents
What is the business tax deadline for 2024? Corporate tax deadline: when are corporate taxes due? Partnership and S-corporation tax deadline LLC tax filing deadline Quarterly payroll taxes for employers Requirements for federal excise tax Save hours of admin time with Wise Business

What is the business tax deadline for 2024?

The main tax date in 2024 will be April 15th. Individuals, sole proprietors, and C corporations need to file their taxes by this date. The main ‘tax day’ usually falls on April 15.¹

If you live in Maine or Massachusetts, you may file by April 17.

Farmers and fishermen also have until April 15 (April 17 if you live in Maine or Massachusetts) to file the 2023 income tax return (Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR).

Depending on the type of business you run and what your primary source of income is, you may have different business tax filing deadlines.

This article should be used as a guide only - always refer to Publication 509 to check the exact deadlines.

Income tax for individuals, business owners and businesses

All individuals, business owners and businesses will need to file income tax. The type of income tax deadline you need to pay attention to varies by the type of business you own and the state in which you operate.

If you are a calendar year taxpayer, use the following dates for income tax payments/estimated tax payments:¹

• January 16: is the final installment date for 2023 estimated tax payments. This applies to individuals who did not make a payment for estimated tax for the last quarter of 2023. Use Form 1040-ES. Farmers or fishermen who have not paid by January 16th must file the 2023 return and pay all taxes due by March 1, 2024. Without doing so, an estimated tax penalty may be charged.

• January 31: All businesses: annual information statements to recipients of certain payments made during 2023 using Form 1099 or other information return. W-2 forms must be sent.

• April 15: quarterly tax payment due for the first quarter if following the calendar year.

• June 17: quarterly tax payment due for the second quarter, if following the calendar year.

• September 16: quarterly tax payment due for the third quarter if following the calendar year.

If you are following a different fiscal year, you will need to change some of your income tax estimated payment dates.

Individuals and certain types of businesses have the opportunity to set their fiscal years to different dates compared to the calendar year. Not all types of business are able to do so.

For these individuals and businesses, estimated tax payments will instead be due on the 15th day of the fourth, sixth, and ninth months of your tax year, as well as the 15th day of the first month after your tax year ends.

This roughly coincides with the same quarter lengths as if you followed the calendar year for your business.²

Employment tax

Employment taxes must be made if you are an employer and pay one or more employees in wages, tips, or other compensation.

All of your payroll withholdings and employment tax payments must be submitted either semi-weekly or monthly. This is based on your filing status.

Monthly deposit schedule: Deposit your employment taxes by the 15th day of the following month.

Semi-weekly schedule: Deposit taxes for payments made on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday by the following Wednesday. Taxes for payments made on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday must be made by the following Friday.

Important employment tax dates are as follows:³

• January 31: Give employees their copies of Form W-2 for 2023. File Form W-3, along with Copy A of all the Forms W-2 you issued for 2023. File Form 945 to report income tax withheld for 2023 on all nonpayroll items. File Form 941 for the fourth quarter of 2023 for Social security, Medicare, and withheld income tax.

• February 16 All employers: Begin withholding income tax from the pay of any employee who claimed exemption from withholding in 2023, but didn't continue the exemption this year.

• February 28: Health coverage reporting to IRS as an Applicable Large Employer: file paper Forms 1094-C and 1095-C with the IRS. For all other providers of minimum essential coverage, file paper Forms 1094-B and 1095-B with the IRS.

• April 1: Electronic filing of forms: W-2G, 8027, 1094-C and 1095-C and Forms 1094-B and 1095-B.

• July 31: All employers who maintain an employee benefit plan, such as a pension,
  profit-sharing, or stock bonus plan, file Form 5500 or 5500-EZ for calendar year 2023.

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Nonemployee compensation

Your business may also make payments to “nonemployees”. These are services performed for your business by a person who is not treated as an employee.

Note that you only need to pay taxes for nonemployee compensation if you pay them $600 or more. If you do:

• January 31: file Form 1099-NEC for nonemployee compensation paid in 2023.

Excise tax

Business owners must also pay excise taxes, which are imposed on goods, services, and other activities. All excise taxes are paid either monthly, quarterly, or annually.⁴ This depends on industry-specific requirements.⁵

• If your business is a retailer, manufacturer, communication company, or travel service, file Form 720, the Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return. The form must be filed by businesses for each quarter of the calendar year.

• If your business accepts wagers, you must file Form 11-C, Occupational Tax and Registration Return for Wagering, before you accept any bets, as well as Form 730 every subsequent month.

• If your company operates heavy highway vehicles, you must file Form 2290 by the last day of the vehicle’s first month of service. Afterward, your excise tax period runs from July 1 to June 30 of the following year.

Corporate tax deadline: when are corporate taxes due?

If your business counts as a corporation, you must also navigate extra tax deadlines and forms.

Your corporate taxes will be due at different times depending on the structure of your corporation.

If you have a C-corporation (a corporation where the owners or shareholders are taxed separately from the company entity), your deadlines are typically:

• April 15, 2024, if your corporation is a calendar year taxpayer

If your corporation operates on a fiscal year, your tax deadline is the 15th day of the fourth month following the end of your fiscal year.

In all cases, file IRS Form 1120.

2024 estimated income tax for corporations

If you have a corporation and need to pay estimated income tax, you follow the same basic estimated income tax due dates as other entities. These dates are:⁶

• April 15 for the first quarter
• June 17 for the second quarter
• September 16 for the third quarter
• December 16 for the fourth quarter

Partnership and S-corporation tax deadline

Naturally, partnerships and S-corporations have different tax deadlines as well.

For S-corporations operating on a calendar year:

• March 15, 2024: regular tax deadline. File Form 1120-S
• September 16, 2024: extended tax deadline - only if you request an automatic 6-month extension. File Form 1120-S.

For S-corporations with a different fiscal year:

• The 15th day of the fourth month following the end of the corporation’s tax year. Corporations with a fiscal tax year ending June 30 must file by the 15th day of the 3rd month.⁷

If your business is any kind of partnership operating on a different fiscal year from the calendar year, your business’s tax deadline is the 15th day of the third month following the end of your fiscal year.

If you follow the calendar year, this would be March 15, 2024. File Form 1065 in any case.

LLC tax filing deadline

LLCs are company structures that provide various financial and legal benefits for their owners.

By default, LLCs are not treated as corporations, although you can elect to have them be treated as such and receive different tax dates.

If you choose to treat your LLC as a corporation, your tax dates are:

• April 15, 2024: overall tax due date if you follow the calendar year for your fiscal year

• 15th day of the fourth month after your fiscal year ends: overall tax due date if you have a different fiscal year

If you choose to run your LLC as a sole proprietorship:

The IRS taxes you like an individual. Your income and expenses are therefore reported on your personal tax return.

Without an extension, the personal tax return is due on April 15. File Form 1040, and you’ll be good to go.

Quarterly payroll taxes for employers

If you employ one or more people in your business, you should file Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return. Then deposit your taxes on the following dates:⁸

• April 30 for first quarter
• July 31 for second quarter
• October 31 for third quarter
• January 31 for fourth quarter of the previous calendar year

The IRS gives you an additional 10 calendar days to file your return if you deposit all your taxes before they are due.

Requirements for federal excise tax

Pay special attention to which types of excise tax forms you may be required to file.

• File Form 720 if you are required to pay quarterly Federal excise tax returns
• File Form 11-C if you need to file for wagering income
• File Form 2290 if your business uses heavy highway vehicles

Furthermore, you must file these forms each quarter of the calendar year, with due dates as follows:

• April 30 for first quarter
• July 31 for second quarter
• October 31 for third quarter
• January 31 for fourth quarter of the previous year

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Sources:

1. IRS tax dates - Page 1
2. IRS tax dates - fiscal year - Page 5
3. IRS - Employment tax due dates
4. IRS - Excise tax
5. IRS - Excise tax overview
6. IRS estimated income tax
7. IRS - S-corporation - Page 5
8. IRS - Payroll tax

All sources checked March, 2024.