Completing Schedule K-1 for S-Corp with Single Shareholder - Filing Sequence Questions

Yes, you do need to include the Schedule K-1 with your Form 1120-S. The K-1 is part of the S-Corporation's filing responsibility, not just your personal return. Even with zero revenue and zero expenses, you still need to complete a K-1 for each shareholder (in your case, just yourself). The K-1 shows the shareholder's portion of income, deductions, and credits, even if those amounts are all zeros this year. The corporation prepares this form and provides a copy to both the IRS (attached to the 1120-S) and to each shareholder. Once you receive your copy of the K-1, you'll use that information when preparing your personal Form 1040. So the sequence is: prepare 1120-S with K-1 attached → file corporate return → use K-1 information for your personal return.

I was in the exact same boat last year - new S-Corp, single shareholder, no activity yet. I spent hours trying to figure this out until I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai). They have this amazing system that analyzed my situation and walked me through the whole process. The tool confirmed that YES, I needed to file the K-1 with my 1120-S, even with all zeros. It even showed me exactly how to complete each box properly for a zero-activity year. Apparently there are specific ways to indicate "no activity" rather than just leaving things blank, which I wouldn't have known. I'm not very tax-savvy so having something analyze my specific situation and give me personalized guidance was a huge relief. They even explained how this would flow through to my personal return.

Wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here. I was skeptical but decided to try it for my single-member S-Corp situation. This tool actually saved me from making a mistake on my Schedule K-1! I was planning to just leave everything blank since I had zero activity, but the analysis pointed out that I needed to enter specific zeros in certain boxes and "none" in others, plus include some basis information even for a zero year. I'm not affiliated with them or anything, just genuinely surprised how helpful it was for this exact S-Corp shareholder K-1 issue. Worth checking out if you're confused about any tax forms.

After spending 3 DAYS trying to get someone at the IRS to answer questions about my S-Corp's Schedule K-1, I finally tried Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and it was seriously a game-changer. They got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I had been trying unsuccessfully for days. The IRS agent confirmed that yes, the K-1 needs to be filed with your 1120-S even if all the entries are zero, and they walked me through how to properly complete it. There's apparently a specific way they want "no activity" reported rather than just leaving boxes empty. If you need clarification directly from the IRS, check out their demo video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - saved me so much frustration compared to the endless hold music I was dealing with before.

I need to eat my words and apologize to Profile 9. After my skeptical comment, I was still desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about my S-Corp filing questions, so I reluctantly tried Claimyr. I'm genuinely shocked - they got me through to an IRS agent in about 25 minutes when I had been trying unsuccessfully for over a week. The agent confirmed everything about the K-1 requirement for single-shareholder S-Corps and even helped me understand how to report my basis correctly. For anyone struggling with S-Corp questions and getting nowhere with the regular IRS phone lines, this service actually works. I've never been able to get through to a human at the IRS this easily before.

Make sure you're tracking your stock basis too, even in a zero income/expense year. The K-1 should reflect your initial contribution to the S-corp. This becomes important in future years because your ability to deduct losses will be limited to your basis in the S-corp. I learned this the hard way when I couldn't take losses in year 3 because I hadn't properly tracked my basis from day one. Even with zeros across the board for operations, you should have some basis from your initial contribution to form the company.

Has anyone used TurboTax to prepare their S-Corp return with K-1? I'm in the same boat as OP and wondering if the software walks you through this properly or if I should use something else?

Just wanted to add my experience as someone who went through this exact situation last year. The key thing to remember is that even though you had no revenue/expenses, you still need to properly complete the K-1 because it establishes important records for future years. A few specific tips for your zero-activity K-1: - Box 1 (Ordinary business income/loss): Enter "0" not blank - Box 16 (Foreign transactions): Enter "N/A" if no foreign activity - Make sure to include your beginning and ending capital account balances Also, keep detailed records of any startup costs you personally paid for - these might not affect this year's return but could be important for future deductions. The IRS likes to see consistency in how S-Corps report, even in dormant years. Good luck with your first S-Corp filing! The learning curve is steep but gets easier each year.