The 2027 deadlines that catch new LLCs

Forming an LLC takes an afternoon. Learning which tax dates now apply to you can take a year, usually the hard way. Here are the ones that catch new owners, in the order they arrive.

How the IRS sees your LLC

An LLC is a state creation. The IRS doesn't tax it as an LLC at all. By default, a one-owner LLC is treated as part of its owner: the profit goes on a Schedule C with your personal return. An LLC with two or more owners is treated as a partnership and files its own return. Either can choose to be taxed as a corporation instead, which changes every date below.

February 1: forms for the people you paid

If you paid contractors last year, they need a Form 1099-NEC, and so does the IRS. The usual date is January 31. In 2027 that's a Sunday, so it moves to Monday, February 1. Collect each contractor's tax ID on a W-9 before you pay them, not in late January.

March 15: the partnership return

A multi-member LLC files Form 1065 by the 15th day of the third month, so March 15 for a calendar year. Each owner also gets a Schedule K-1 showing their share of the profit. Owners need their K-1 to file their own returns, so a late partnership return makes everyone late.

The partnership return is due a month before most owners think about taxes at all.

April 15 and the quarterly estimates

Nobody withholds tax from an LLC owner's profit, so owners usually pay estimated tax four times a year: April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15 of the next year. A date that falls on a weekend or holiday moves to the next working day. Missing them doesn't stop at a bill; it adds a penalty that grows with time.

What an extension does, and doesn't

You can extend most returns by six months. An extension gives you more time to file, not to pay. Tax owed is still due on the original date, and interest starts there. The safe habit is to estimate what you owe, pay it with the extension, and file when the return is ready.

A first-year checklist

Put every date above in your calendar now. Open a separate bank account if you haven't. Collect W-9s before paying anyone. And if you have partners, agree early who sends the year-end numbers, because the March 15 return depends on them.