Do you pay quarterly taxes using EIN or SSN for LLC as a single member?

Thanks for this info! I'm in a similar situation but I actually elected to be taxed as an S-Corp for my single-member LLC. Does that change anything about using SSN vs EIN for the quarterly payments?

If you've elected to be taxed as an S-Corporation, that does change things. In that case, you would use your EIN for the quarterly estimated tax payments related to your corporation's income tax obligations using Form 1120-S. As an S-Corp owner, you should be paying yourself a reasonable salary, with proper payroll tax withholding. For any additional distributions you take from the business beyond your salary, you may need to make personal estimated tax payments using your SSN on Form 1040-ES. So with an S-Corp, you might actually be making two sets of payments: corporate ones (with the EIN) and personal ones (with your SSN).

Does taxr.ai help with determining how much you should pay for quarterly taxes too? I'm always worried about underpaying and getting hit with penalties.

I've seen a few AI tax services pop up lately. How does this one compare to just using something like TurboTax? Does it actually provide advice or just information? I'm skeptical about these AI tools making important tax decisions.

For quarterly payment amounts, absolutely! They have a calculator that looks at your income patterns and helps estimate what you need to pay each quarter. It even accounts for seasonal business fluctuations which was super helpful for my photography business since wedding season creates huge income spikes. As for how it compares to TurboTax, they're actually complementary. TurboTax is great for filing your annual returns, but taxr.ai specializes in ongoing tax planning and document analysis. It's not making decisions for you - it's analyzing official IRS documents and explaining how they apply to your specific situation with citations to the relevant tax code. I still use TurboTax for my annual filing, but taxr.ai helps me understand complex tax situations throughout the year.

Wait, how does this service actually work? Do they just call the IRS for you? I'm confused about what they're actually doing that I couldn't do myself.

Sounds like a scam to me. The IRS is understaffed but I seriously doubt any service can magically get you through when millions of others can't. They probably just keep calling on your behalf which you could do yourself for free.

They don't just call for you. They use an automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and holds your place in line. When it finally reaches an agent, you get a call connecting you directly to that agent. You handle the conversation yourself - they just solve the problem of getting through. Their system continually redials using optimal timing based on wait patterns and call volume data they've collected. Sure, you could theoretically keep redialing yourself dozens of times, but who has hours to waste doing that manually? I tried for three days with no success before using them. Their system finds openings in the queue that would be nearly impossible to hit with manual calling.

I did exactly this last year! The IRS eventually figured it out and applied the payment to my personal account, but it took them almost 3 months to sort it out. When I filed my annual return, I had to include a note explaining the situation. If you catch it early, you might want to call them to have it corrected so it doesn't delay processing your return next year.

Oh man, thanks for sharing your experience! I'm glad to hear they eventually figured it out, but waiting 3 months sounds stressful. I'll definitely give them a call to try to get it sorted out now before it becomes a bigger issue. Did they charge you any penalties or interest for the mix-up?

Surprisingly, they didn't charge any penalties since the payment was made on time - just to the wrong account number. The IRS representative I spoke with said this happens fairly often with new LLC owners. The important thing is that you made the payment by the quarterly due date. They just needed to internally transfer it from your business EIN account to your personal SSN account.

Not a stupid question at all! For multi-member LLCs, the default classification is a partnership for tax purposes (unless you elect corporate taxation). The LLC itself will file an information return (Form 1065), but the LLC doesn't pay taxes directly. Instead, each member receives a Schedule K-1 showing their share of profits/losses, and each member makes their own individual quarterly estimated tax payments using their personal SSN on Form 1040-ES. The EIN is used for the partnership's information return and other business filings, but not for the actual tax payments which remain the individual responsibility of each member.

This is really helpful, thank you! I'm also a new LLC owner and was totally confused about this. One follow-up question - when you say the EIN is useful for "state tax filings depending on where you're located," can you elaborate on that? I'm in California and wondering if I need to do anything different at the state level even though I'm using my SSN for federal quarterly payments.

Great question about California! Yes, California has some specific requirements for LLCs that are different from federal rules. Even though your LLC is disregarded federally, California treats all LLCs as separate entities for state tax purposes. You'll need to file Form 568 (Limited Liability Company Return of Income) annually using your EIN, and you'll owe California's annual LLC tax of $800 minimum, plus additional fees based on gross receipts if you exceed certain thresholds. For quarterly estimated payments to California, you'd typically use Form 540ES with your SSN since the LLC income flows through to your personal California return (Form 540). So essentially: Federal quarterlies use your SSN on Form 1040-ES, California quarterlies use your SSN on Form 540ES, but you still need that EIN for the annual LLC filing (Form 568) to California. Each state handles LLCs differently, so it's always worth checking your specific state's requirements!