Do I need to file Form 1065 for LLC partnership with no income in 2025?

Yes, you do need to file Form 1065 even with zero income or expenses. The IRS requires partnerships to file an information return regardless of whether there was any business activity during the year. Many people think no income means no filing, but partnerships have to report even when "nothing happened." You'll basically file a return showing zeros in most places. This lets the IRS know your partnership still exists but didn't have activity. It's actually pretty simple to do when there are no transactions to report. If you don't file, you could face failure-to-file penalties of $210 per partner per month (up to 12 months), so it's definitely worth completing the form even when it feels unnecessary.

After spending hours trying to figure out my partnership tax situation last year, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it was seriously a game-changer for my small business. I uploaded my LLC operating agreement and some other docs I wasn't sure about, and it analyzed everything and explained exactly what forms I needed to file for my specific situation. For your zero-activity LLC, it would probably save you a lot of time since it can confirm your filing requirements and help you understand the minimal information you need to include on the 1065. I was confused about a bunch of the partnership allocation stuff, and it explained everything in plain English.

I need to follow up about taxr.ai - I tried it after posting my skeptical comment and I'm honestly impressed. I uploaded my LLC docs and it immediately clarified that even though we had no income, we still needed to file in our state. It even pointed out a minimum tax requirement in my state that I had no idea about (would have missed a $300 payment!). The step-by-step form guidance was really helpful, especially since our situation was pretty much all zeros. Saved me from paying my accountant just to file a bunch of zeros. Just wanted to share since it actually was worth checking out for my similar situation.

If you're having trouble getting answers from the IRS about your partnership return, try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was in a similar situation with a dormant LLC and couldn't get through to the IRS for weeks. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have this cool demo video (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) that shows how it works. The agent I spoke with confirmed exactly what I needed to do with my zero-activity partnership and gave me peace of mind that I was filing correctly. Worth it just to have the official confirmation directly from the IRS.

I have to eat my words about Claimyr. After weeks of failed attempts calling the IRS about my LLC filing requirements, I figured I'd try it since I was getting nowhere on my own. I was honestly shocked when they called me back in about 20 minutes saying they had an IRS agent on the line. The agent confirmed that yes, I needed to file Form 1065 even with no activity, but also gave me specific guidance on which sections could be left blank vs. which needed zeros. They also told me about a simplified filing procedure I had no idea existed. Ended up being way more helpful than I expected, and saved me hours of frustration and hold music.

Another option worth considering - if your LLC is just you and your wife, you could potentially elect to be treated as a "disregarded entity" rather than a partnership for federal tax purposes. This would eliminate the need to file Form 1065 completely. You'd need to file Form 8832 to change your tax classification. If approved, your LLC would be treated like a sole proprietorship (reported on Schedule C of your personal return) instead of a partnership. Might be worth looking into if you want to avoid the partnership filing requirements going forward.

Has anyone here actually gotten in trouble for NOT filing a zero-activity 1065? I'm in a similar situation (LLC partnership formed in 2024 but no business conducted yet) and wondering how serious the risk really is? $210 per month per partner is theoretically a big penalty, but do they actually enforce that for small businesses that aren't making any money?

I was in almost the exact same situation last year - formed an LLC with my spouse in 2023, had zero activity in 2024, and was dreading the paperwork. I ended up filing the Form 1065 anyway after reading about the penalties, and honestly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Most of the form was just zeros or "N/A" entries. The trickiest part was making sure I had the right partner information and ownership percentages filled out correctly in Schedule K-1, but even that was straightforward since we're 50/50 partners. The whole thing took me maybe 2 hours using tax software. One thing I learned: even though we had no income, I still had to report our initial capital contributions when we formed the LLC (even if it was just $100 each to open the business bank account). That showed up on Schedule L as our beginning and ending balance sheet. Definitely file it - the peace of mind is worth way more than the couple hours of paperwork, especially knowing people are getting hit with thousands in penalties for not filing.

I went through this exact situation two years ago! Had an LLC partnership that sat dormant for the entire tax year - no income, no expenses, nothing. I was really hoping I could skip the filing, but after doing some research (and getting scared by the penalty amounts), I decided to file Form 1065 anyway. The good news is that it's actually pretty straightforward when you have zero activity. Most lines on the form will just be zeros, and the Schedule K-1s for you and your husband will mostly be blank or zero as well. The main things you'll need to fill out are basic partnership info, partner details, and the balance sheet showing any initial contributions you made when setting up the LLC. I used FreeTaxUSA for partnerships and it walked me through everything step by step. Took maybe 90 minutes total, and most of that was just double-checking that I was entering zeros in the right places. Way better than risking those failure-to-file penalties - I've heard they really do enforce them even for small partnerships with no activity. One tip: make sure you keep good records of when your LLC was formed and any initial money you put in, because you'll need those dates and amounts for the return even if nothing else happened during the year.

I'm dealing with this exact situation right now! My business partner and I formed an LLC in late 2023 but had absolutely zero business activity in 2024 - no income, no expenses, nothing. We've been procrastinating on the tax filing because we weren't sure if we needed to do anything. After reading through all these responses, it's clear we need to file Form 1065 regardless of having no activity. The penalty stories are definitely scary enough to motivate me to get this done! It sounds like it's actually not as complicated as I was expecting when there's zero activity to report. One question though - for those who have filed zero-activity returns, do you need to include any kind of explanation or note about why there was no business activity? Or do you just file the form with zeros and that's sufficient for the IRS to understand the situation? Also, has anyone here used TurboTax Business for this type of filing, or is FreeTaxUSA really the better option for simple partnership returns?

I just went through this exact situation last month! My wife and I had a dormant LLC partnership for all of 2024 - literally zero activity, no income, no expenses, just existed on paper while we dealt with other life priorities. After reading horror stories about the penalties (which are real - the IRS doesn't mess around with partnership filing requirements), I bit the bullet and filed Form 1065. It was honestly much simpler than I expected when there's no activity to report. Most lines were just zeros, and the main things I needed were our basic partnership info, each partner's details, and our initial capital contributions from when we set up the LLC. I used FreeTaxUSA and it took maybe 2 hours total, including double-checking everything. The software walked me through which sections actually needed attention versus which ones could just be zeros. The peace of mind was absolutely worth the small time investment, especially knowing that failure-to-file penalties can add up to thousands of dollars even when you made zero income. One tip that saved me some confusion: make sure you have your EIN handy and any documentation of initial money you put into the business when you formed it (even if it was just $50 to open a bank account). That needs to go on the balance sheet even if nothing else happened during the year. Don't risk the penalties - just file the return with zeros. It's way easier than you think it will be!

I just want to echo what everyone else is saying - you absolutely need to file Form 1065 even with zero activity. I learned this the hard way when I procrastinated on filing for my dormant LLC partnership in 2023 and got hit with penalties. The IRS considers partnerships to be "pass-through entities" that must file information returns regardless of income level. Think of Form 1065 as more of a reporting requirement than a tax return - you're basically telling the IRS "hey, we exist but had no activity this year." For your situation with zero income and zero expenses, the form will be mostly zeros but you'll still need to complete the basic partnership information, partner details (you and your husband), ownership percentages, and Schedule L (balance sheet) showing any initial capital you contributed when forming the LLC. The good news is that many tax software programs have gotten really good at handling these "dormant partnership" scenarios. They'll guide you through exactly which fields need zeros versus which can be left blank. Budget about 1-2 hours for the whole process if you use software - it's really not as intimidating as it seems when there's no actual business activity to report. Don't gamble with those penalties - they add up fast and the IRS doesn't care whether you made money or not. Just file the return and get it off your plate!

As someone who went through this exact situation recently, I can confirm that you definitely need to file Form 1065 even with zero activity. I know it seems pointless when you literally have nothing to report, but the IRS treats this as a mandatory information return for all partnerships, regardless of income level. The process is actually much simpler than you'd expect when there's no business activity. Most lines will be zeros, and you'll mainly need to fill out basic partnership info, partner details (you and your husband with ownership percentages), and Schedule L showing any initial capital contributions you made when setting up the LLC. I used FreeTaxUSA for my dormant LLC partnership return and it took about 90 minutes total. The software does a good job of guiding you through which sections need zeros versus which can be left blank. Make sure you have your EIN and any documentation of initial money you put into the business ready before you start. Those failure-to-file penalties are no joke - $210 per partner per month can add up to thousands even when you made zero income. It's definitely worth spending the couple hours to file rather than risk that kind of penalty. The peace of mind alone makes it worthwhile!