S Corp Tax Calculator

Wondering if an S corporation (S corp) makes sense for your business?

Our S Corp vs. LLC Tax Calculator guide will explain how to tell whether an S corp election is right for your business. Read ahead to calculate your S corp tax savings when compared to a default LLC.

Woman working at her desk on an S corp vs LLC calculator.

Pro Tip: Get a free consultation with a tax professional to determine if an S corp is right for you.

S Corp Tax Calculator – S Corp vs LLC Savings

Electing S corp status allows LLC owners to be taxed as employees of the business. This allows owners to pay less in self-employment taxes and contribute pre-tax dollars to 401k and health insurance premiums.

Our S corp tax calculator will estimate whether electing an S corp will result in a tax win for your business. Before using the S corp tax calculator, you will need to:

Determine a reasonable salary for the work you do by comparing similar salaries on websites like Glassdoor or the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Estimate your net profit for the tax year. Use a conservative estimate that you are likely to meet every year.

S Corp Savings Calculator

Calculate how much you can save by choosing an S Corp tax classification

LLC Net Income before salary

Reasonable Salary

Pro Tip: Get a free consultation with a tax professional to determine if an S corp is right for you.

When to Elect S Corp Status for an LLC

The following criteria determine whether electing the S corp tax classification makes sense for an LLC:

The business must meet IRS (Internal Revenue Service) S corp requirements
The business owner(s) must consistently earn a "reasonable salary"
The business owner should be able to pay themselves at least $20,000 in distributions
The financial tax advantage must offset the cost of maintaining the S corp

IRS S Corp Requirements

To elect S corp status, a business must have 100 shareholders or less. In addition, S corps may only issue one class of stock. Other S corp requirements include:

Are domestic LLCs or corporations
Shareholders are U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens
Are owned by private individuals

The IRS has specific deadlines for a business to elect S corp status.

If you want the S corp status to take effect the following year, you may file at any time in the previous year.
If you’re filing within the same year, you must submit your application within 2 months and 15 days or before on the same calendar year, between January 1st and March 15 (no later than March 15).
For a new business, you must file within 2 months and 15 days after you start your company, based on the effective date on the Certificate of Incorporation, for the S corp tax status to take effect.

Are you looking for the right business structure for your small business? Visit our How to Choose a Business Structure guide.

Reasonable Salary

If an LLC elects S corp, the LLC’s owners become employees of the company. Under IRS rules, owner-employees must be paid a reasonable salary – that is, a salary that someone doing the same job would normally earn. The IRS looks to make sure that the S corp is paying its owners reasonable salaries. If a company fails to do so, it may be denied S corp status, have to pay a fine, and/or be required to pay back taxes.

To determine a reasonable salary for your position, you can compare similar salaries on websites like Glassdoor or the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Profit and Distribution

After electing S corp status, an LLC owner uses profits to pay salaries and distributions to owner-employees. The business must be able to cover a reasonable salary and at least $20,000 in distributions for the S corp election to make financial sense.

If an LLC owner forfeits a salary, he or she could be fined by the IRS.

Positive Return on Investment

Although the IRS charges minimal filing fees to elect S corp status, there are additional bookkeeping and payroll costs that can be expensive. Some LLCs already have employees and payroll costs, in which case this isn’t really a factor in deciding whether to elect S corp.
Because of the added administrative costs, the tax advantages of electing the S corp classification must be substantial enough to more than cover them for the election to make sense. Generally speaking, a reasonable salary plus $20,000 in annual distributions is often enough to save money on your tax return.

For help choosing payroll and accounting services, see our review of the Best Payroll Software for Small Business.

Recommended: If you have at least $60,000 in net earnings, an S corp may offer tax advantages. Let Northwest start your S corp today.

How to Start an S Corp — Form 2553

You can start an S corp by electing S corp tax status from the IRS on Form 2553 for:

An existing LLC or corporation
A new LLC or corporation (we don’t recommend starting a corporation and electing S corp status)

For detailed, step-by-step instructions for starting an S corp in your state, choose your state:

S Corp Tax Return FAQ

S corps don’t pay a corporate income tax. Instead, owners pay personal income tax on the company’s earnings. For more information, see our S Corp Taxes guide.

This depends on how much the company makes. As a general rule of thumb, it only makes sense to file taxes as an S corp if there is enough net profit to pay owners a reasonable salary and at least $10,000 in annual distributions.

Check out our LLC Tax Guide, and read more about the similarities and differences between LLCs and S Corps in our LLC vs S Corp guide.

The S corp doesn’t have a specific tax rate because S corp income passes through to the owner’s individual tax return. At that point, the S corp income is subject to federal, state, and FICA taxes based on the individual owner’s tax bracket and filing status.

For more information, see our S Corp Taxes guide.

An S corp is a tax status that can be elected by an LLC or corporation. LLCs and corporations have limited liability protection. A business owner will not lose liability protection by electing S corp tax status.

For more information, see our What is an S Corporation?

A C corporation (C corp) has double taxation:

The business is taxed at a flat tax rate (currently 21%)
The shareholders are then taxed on the distributions they receive from the business on their personal tax return at their income tax bracket

An S corporation (S corp) offers tax savings:

The business itself is not taxed
There is pass-through taxation
Owner(s)/shareholders receive distributions (profits, deductions, credits, and losses are passed down to the owner(s)/shareholders); this is based on the company percentage they own.
S corp distributions only pay income tax
Owner(s) have a reasonable salary that pays employment taxes and income tax

If you form a corporation without electing the S corp status, your business will automatically be taxed as a C corp.

You can find the PDF IRS tax returns forms in our S Corp Tax Returns guide.

The advantages of an S corp are the tax benefits. Business owners can save on employment taxes, since they only pay employment taxes and income tax on their reasonable salary.

The remaining distributions (profits after operational costs and the owner’s salary) are only subject to income tax (and not employment tax).

You’ll also gain credibility with your clients and potential investors, plus liability protection.

Some S corp disadvantages include:

More IRS scrutiny to ensure the business owner(s) are paid a reasonable salary
Additional costs to formalize a business
Annual fees that vary depending on the state
Compliance requirements

Yes, subchapter S is the same thing as an S corp. For more information, see our What is an S Corporation guide.

An S corp is a pass-through tax status. The S corp isn’t taxed on its profit. Instead, the profit passes through to the owner's individual tax returns. An S corp does have to pay employer FICA taxes on employee salaries. For more information, see our S Corp Taxes guide.

Yes, an S corp files taxes at the state and federal level. For more information, see our S Corp Taxes guide.

The default LLC tax status is better for small businesses that reinvest profit to grow their business. An S corp is better for businesses that have profit left over to pay owners a reasonable salary and at least $10,000 in distributions.

For more information, see our LLC vs. S Corp guide.

Yes, S corp income passes through to the owner’s individual tax returns and is subject to state income taxes.

For more information, see our S Corp Taxes guide.

Yes, an S corp owner must take a reasonable salary per IRS guidelines. Reasonable is defined as being a fair market salary for the work performed.

For more information, see our What is an S Corporation guide.

You can elect an S corp tax status for your small business by completing and filing Form 2553 from the IRS or you can have a service like Northwest do it for you.