Minimum Effort an S-Corp Owner Needs to Put in to Stay Compliant with Filing Requirements

In case of an S-Corp with only 1 employee (the owner), administrative effort can be concentrated into 3 times a year where major effort must be put into S-Corp taxation and filing requirements.

The business owner can pay himself salary once year, ideally towards the end of the year when the overall work effort and income for the year is already fairly clear. The effort to handle monthly payroll for the owner, with all the attached obligations, is not necessary.

With that said, the following 3 periods are ideal to dive into tax compliance for a few days, and not worry too much for the rest of the year.

February 15 (Major Effort):
- Main bookkeeping and tax return work for past year to be done… hand over all forms and info to your trusted tax advisor
- Pay estimated taxes for current year, to state and federal for personal, and state only for S-Corp… your tax advisor can take this on too
- File quarterly 941 plus online State Filing for S-Corp for current quarter… your tax advisor can handle this admin burden reliably
- Make initial PTE Elective Tax payment through the S-Corp now
- (be sure to send our any 1099s to contractors by the end of January already, and file 1096 with the IRS in such case)

July 1 (Minor Effort):
- File quarterly 941 plus online State Filing for S-Corp for prior quarter
- Pay more estimated taxes for current year as needed

October 1 (Major Effort):
- File quarterly 941 plus online State Filing for S-Corp for prior quarter
- Also, initiate all cash S-Corp payments necessary to hit the current year, including payroll and PTE Elective Tax.
- Create W-2 and do Social Security Admin website filings.
- File quarterly 940 and 941 plus online State Filing for S-Corp, for current period.
- Pay remaining estimated taxes for current year as needed.
- Initiate loss harvesting for underwater investments to create at least $3000 in losses, but more if you have any realized Capital Gains

S-Corp Tax Advisors can assist business owners in all the following California cities.. just reach out to us!

San Francisco, with Marin County, Silicon Valley, and the whole East Bay

Paso Robles, with Atascadero and all other parts of the Central Coast

Santa Barbara, with Buellton, Santa Ynez, Montecito, Ventura, Oxnard

Los Angeles, with Malibu, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, South Bay

Orange County, with Anaheim, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Irvine

San Diego, with Del Mar, La Jolla, Rancho Santa Fe, Encinitas, Oceanside

Palm Springs, with Palm Desert and all other parts of the Coachella Valley