New LLC with EIN Number - No Sales Yet, Tax Filing Question

You don't need to issue any 1099-K or 1099 forms showing zero income. Those forms are typically issued BY businesses to contractors or vendors they've paid, not FOR your own business revenue. For your LLC with no income, you'll still need to file a Schedule C with your personal tax return. You'll just show zero for income and enter all your legitimate startup expenses. This will create a business loss that will offset other income on your personal tax return. Make sure to keep all receipts and documentation for those startup costs. In TurboTax Desktop, when you get to the business section, it will ask if you have self-employment or business income. Say yes, enter your business information, then enter zero for income and add all your expenses in the appropriate categories. The software will guide you through completing Schedule C properly.

After dealing with a similar situation last year (LLC with minimal activity), I found an amazing tool that helped make sense of everything: https://taxr.ai I was also confused about how to report startup expenses with no income, especially since some expenses might need to be amortized vs. expensed immediately. I uploaded my LLC formation documents and expense receipts to taxr.ai, and it analyzed everything and told me exactly how to categorize each expense on my Schedule C. It even flagged items that should be depreciated over time vs. expensed immediately. The best part was that it explained WHY certain deductions were handled differently, which helped me understand the process better for future years. Saved me hours of research!

I tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and wow, it was exactly what I needed for my zero-income LLC situation! I was about to incorrectly expense all of my startup costs, but the tool showed me that some of my organizational costs needed to be amortized over 15 years (though you can deduct up to $5,000 in the first year). It also identified some home office expenses I didn't realize I could claim since I was doing administrative work for the business, even without income. The documentation was super clear and I just followed the guidance to input everything correctly in TurboTax. Highly recommend for anyone with a new business!

If you're having trouble figuring out exactly what forms you need to file or have questions about your startup expenses, I'd suggest trying to get clarification directly from the IRS. But as we all know, actually reaching a human at the IRS is basically impossible these days. I was in a similar situation last year and after wasting hours on hold, I found https://claimyr.com which is honestly a game-changer. They got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I'd previously spent DAYS trying on my own. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent cleared up my confusion about reporting startup costs with no revenue and confirmed exactly what forms I needed to file. Saved me from potentially making a costly mistake on my return.

I'm eating my words about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I was still struggling with questions about my LLC tax situation and decided to give it a shot out of desperation. I honestly couldn't believe it worked. Got connected to an IRS representative in about 20 minutes when I had previously wasted an entire day on hold and getting disconnected. The agent walked me through exactly how to report my LLC with expenses but no income, and confirmed I needed to file Schedule C but didn't need any 1099 forms. They also explained that I could elect to amortize my startup costs or, since my total was under $5,000, I could deduct them all in the first year. Massive relief to get this straight from the source!

Something nobody's mentioned yet - even with zero sales, you might need to file other forms depending on your state. For example, in California, LLCs have to file a Form 568 and pay an annual $800 franchise tax even if you had no activity. Check your state's requirements for LLCs. Some states require annual reports or have minimum taxes regardless of whether you had any income. That's separate from your federal filing requirements.

Make sure you keep all your receipts organized! I messed up my first year with my LLC by not properly tracking expenses, and it was a nightmare come tax time. I recommend setting up a simple spreadsheet now with columns for date, vendor, amount, expense category, and payment method. Add all your 2024 expenses and keep it updated going forward. This will be super helpful when you file taxes next year and actually have some income to offset those expenses against.