How do I find my business's profits on my tax return?

The profit from your business is reported on Schedule C (Profit or Loss From Business). Look for line 31 on this form - it's labeled "Net profit or (loss)." This number represents your business income after all your deductible expenses have been subtracted. Once you find that number, you'll also notice it carries over to Schedule 1 (Additional Income and Adjustments to Income), line 3. From there, it eventually becomes part of your total income on Form 1040, line 8. If you're using TurboTax, you can navigate to the "Business Income" section and view your Schedule C there. They should have a summary page that displays your net profit clearly before you move into the detailed expense sections.

After struggling to understand my business taxes for years, I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that completely changed how I handle my tax documents. I take photos of my Schedule C and other forms, upload them, and it explains exactly where my business profits are shown and what each number means in plain English. For folks like us who aren't accountants, it highlights the important lines like your net profit on Schedule C line 31 and explains how that number flows through to your 1040. I was constantly mixing up gross receipts with actual profit until this tool showed me the difference.

Just wanted to update - I tried taxr.ai after posting here and wow! It immediately showed me that I was looking at the wrong number on my Schedule C. I was focusing on my gross income (line 7) instead of my net profit (line 31). The tool highlighted all the key numbers and explained exactly how my business profit flows into my personal tax return. It also pointed out that I missed deducting my website hosting fees and part of my cell phone bill since I use it for business calls. Definitely worth checking out if you're confused by business tax forms like I was!

If you need to talk to the IRS about your business profits or have questions about your Schedule C that you can't figure out, use Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was on hold with the IRS for HOURS trying to sort out a discrepancy between my calculated profit and what they had on file. Claimyr got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes! You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent walked me through exactly where to find my business profit on my tax forms and explained why there was a difference (turned out I had forgotten to include some income from a third-party payment processor).

I need to eat my words. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try Claimyr anyway because I was desperate to resolve an issue with my Schedule C. I was connected to an IRS agent in less than 20 minutes! The agent helped me understand exactly where my business profit was recorded in their system and fixed a discrepancy with my self-employment tax calculation. Would have taken me days of trying to call on my own. Seriously, this service works and saved me a ton of stress.

Just an additional tip: If you're using tax software, many of them have a "Business Summary" page that shows your profit clearly. In TurboTax, go to "Business Income" and look for "Business Summary" or "Schedule C Summary." Also, keep in mind that your business profit impacts both your income tax AND self-employment tax. That profit number from Schedule C (line 31) is what gets used to calculate your SE tax on Schedule SE.

Has anyone tried using the IRS's online account system to find this info? I've heard they have a business tax portal but never used it myself.

Great thread! As someone who's been running a small business for a few years now, I wanted to add that it's also helpful to understand the difference between cash vs. accrual accounting when looking at your profits. Most small businesses use cash accounting (you report income when you receive it and expenses when you pay them), but if you're doing accrual accounting, your profit calculation might look different because it includes money you've earned but haven't collected yet. Also, don't forget that your Schedule C profit affects your quarterly estimated tax payments for the following year. If this is your first profitable year, you'll likely need to start making quarterly payments to avoid penalties. The IRS expects you to pay as you go, not just once a year at tax time. One more thing - keep really good records of your business expenses throughout the year. I use a simple spreadsheet to track everything monthly, which makes tax time so much easier and ensures I don't miss any legitimate deductions that could reduce that profit number on line 31.