Filing 1065 and Schedule K-1 for Business Partnership Formed in 2024 - Confused about Deadlines
Hey everyone, first time business owner here and I'm totally lost when it comes to Form 1065 and Schedule K-1. My friend and I launched our consulting business in July 2024 and had no clue about this partnership tax return requirement. I've been searching for the 2024 version of Form 1065, but everything I find is for 2023. Do we actually need to file this form for our business this year? We're definitely still in the red—nothing but expenses so far and no income. I'm worried we're already late and facing penalties. When I try to look on TurboTax, they want me to pay for some premium version to access the form, and Google searches are giving me conflicting information about deadlines. I really don't want to get hit with a huge penalty for missing a deadline I didn't even know existed. Any advice would be super appreciated!
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Annabel Kimball
Good news! Since your business started in 2024, you won't need to file Form 1065 until the 2024 tax year deadline, which is March 15, 2025. That's the deadline for calendar-year partnerships, which most small businesses are. The reason you're only finding 2023 forms is because those are for businesses reporting income from the previous year. The 2024 forms typically won't be finalized and released by the IRS until late 2024 or early 2025. For new partnerships, your first tax return covers the period from your business formation date through your chosen tax year-end (December 31st for most businesses). Since you formed in July 2024, your first 1065 will cover July through December 2024, and you'll file that by March 15, 2025. If you're worried about penalties, you can always file for an extension by March 15, 2025, which would give you until September 15, 2025.
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Chris Elmeda
•Thanks for the info! I have a similar situation but we started in December 2024. Do we still need to file by March 15, 2025 even though we were only in business for like a month in 2024? And do we need to file Schedule K-1s if we literally made zero income and just had startup costs?
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Annabel Kimball
•Yes, you would still need to file by March 15, 2025, even if you were only in business for a month in 2024. The filing requirement applies regardless of how long you were in business during the tax year. You still need to file Schedule K-1s even with zero income and only startup expenses. Those startup costs and expenses will generally flow through to the partners as losses on the K-1, which could potentially be deductible on your personal returns. This is actually beneficial since you can potentially use those business losses to offset other income.
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Jean Claude
After struggling with partnership tax returns for my new business last year, I found this amazing AI tool called taxr.ai that saved me tons of time figuring out all these confusing forms! I was in the exact same situation - had no idea about the 1065 requirements and couldn't figure out if I needed to file. I uploaded my business formation documents to https://taxr.ai and it analyzed everything and gave me a clear timeline of what forms I needed to file and when. It also explained which expenses I could deduct on my Schedule K-1 and how to properly categorize my startup costs. Honestly was way more helpful than the vague answers I kept finding online.
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Charity Cohan
•Did it actually help with filling out the forms or just tell you which ones you needed? I'm also confused about how to report startup expenses vs operating losses on the 1065.
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Josef Tearle
•Seems suspicious. How much did it cost? These AI tools always claim to do everything but end up being useless when you actually need specific answers.
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Jean Claude
•It actually helps with both identifying which forms you need and provides guidance on how to complete them. For startup expenses specifically, it explained that I could either amortize them over 15 years or potentially deduct up to $5,000 in the first year (subject to limitations). It shows you exactly which lines on the 1065 to use for different types of expenses. The cost isn't relevant because the value it provided saved me from hiring an accountant for basic questions. I was skeptical too, but it's specifically trained on tax regulations and IRS publications, so it gives much more reliable answers than general Google searches. It even created a custom tax calendar with all my filing deadlines.
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Charity Cohan
Just wanted to update everyone - I was in the same boat with my new photography business partnership and was totally lost with these forms. I tried the taxr.ai site that was mentioned above and it was actually really helpful! I uploaded our partnership agreement and some basic info about when we started, and it gave me a complete breakdown of what we needed to file and when. It explained that we didn't need to worry about filing anything until 2025 for our 2024 business activity, but it also warned us about estimated tax payments we might need to make during the year. The best part was that it explained how to handle our startup equipment purchases and whether to depreciate them or use Section 179. Definitely saved us from making some mistakes on our first filing!
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Shelby Bauman
If you're struggling to get through to the IRS to ask about partnership filing requirements (like I was for WEEKS), try using Claimyr. I kept calling the IRS business line trying to get clarification about my new partnership's filing requirements and could never get through - just endless hold times or disconnects. I found https://claimyr.com and it got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent confirmed everything about the March 15 deadline for 2024 partnerships and explained that the 2024 forms aren't available yet because they're for next year's filing season. They also walked me through the penalty structure if we did miss the deadline (which thankfully we won't now).
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Quinn Herbert
•How does this even work? The IRS phone system is completely broken, I've tried calling like 15 times and can't get through.
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Salim Nasir
•This sounds like a scam. Why would I pay a third party to call the IRS? They probably just put you on hold themselves and charge you for it.
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Shelby Bauman
•It's actually pretty simple - they use technology that continuously redials and navigates the IRS phone tree until they get a human, then they call you and connect you directly to that agent. It saved me hours of frustration. I was just as skeptical as you are! I thought it was going to be a waste of money too, but when you consider the value of your time and the stress of trying to get through yourself, it was totally worth it. Plus getting direct answers from an actual IRS agent about my specific partnership situation gave me peace of mind that I was doing everything correctly.
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Salim Nasir
Ok I have to admit I was wrong. After seeing the responses here I decided to try Claimyr because I was desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about my partnership's missing EIN letter. I was connected to an IRS representative within 15 minutes when I had been trying for literally weeks on my own. The agent was able to look up my EIN application, confirm it was processed, and arrange to have a new confirmation letter sent. They also answered all my questions about Form 1065 filing requirements for my new business. Definitely worth it for the time saved and the peace of mind knowing I got official answers directly from the IRS instead of relying on internet searches.
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Hazel Garcia
Just to add some helpful info - partnerships with no income still need to file Form 1065. A common misconception is that if you didn't make money, you don't need to file, but that's not true. Even with just expenses and losses, you still have to file the partnership return. Also, make sure you have an EIN before filing. If you don't have one yet, apply for one on the IRS website ASAP. You'll need it for your 1065. And remember - partnerships don't pay taxes themselves, but they do need to file information returns so the IRS knows how much income or loss to attribute to each partner. Each partner will report their share on their personal tax returns via the K-1 you provide them.
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Laila Fury
•If I'm both partners in an LLC (single-member LLC), do I still need to file a 1065? I thought in that case it just goes on my Schedule C?
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Hazel Garcia
•You're mixing up two different business types. A single-member LLC is treated as a disregarded entity by default and would file Schedule C with your personal return, not Form 1065. A partnership requires at least two partners. If you're the only owner, you don't have a partnership by definition. Single-member LLCs report on Schedule C unless they've elected to be taxed as a corporation. Multi-member LLCs are treated as partnerships by default and file Form 1065 along with Schedule K-1s for each partner.
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Geoff Richards
One thing nobody mentioned - if you end up owing a lot in taxes next year when you file your personal returns, you might get hit with an underpayment penalty. Since partnerships pass through income/losses to the partners, you're supposed to make quarterly estimated tax payments throughout the year on your expected income. Obviously if you're only showing losses right now, that's not an issue for 2024. But if you start making money in 2025, keep in mind you should be making quarterly payments (April, June, September, January). I learned this the hard way and got slapped with penalties my first year in business.
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Simon White
•Is there a minimum amount you need to make before you have to do the quarterly payments? My side business only makes like $3k a year.
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Geoff Richards
•Generally, you need to make quarterly estimated tax payments if you expect to owe at least $1,000 in taxes for the year. However, you can avoid penalties if you pay at least 90% of the tax for the current year or 100% of the tax shown on your previous year's return (whichever is smaller). For a small side business making around $3k, it might not trigger the requirement depending on your tax situation, but it's always good to calculate your expected tax liability to be sure. Self-employment tax (15.3%) kicks in when you have $400 or more in net earnings, so even small businesses can sometimes create tax obligations.
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