How a limited liability company pays income tax depends on whether the LLC has one member or more than one member:
Single-Member LLC Income Tax
A single member LLC is taxed as a sole proprietorship. That is, the information about the LLC's income and expenses, and its net income, is prepared using Schedule C. The net income from the Schedule C is brought over to Line 12 of the owner's personal tax return (Form 1040 or other).
Multiple-Member LLC Tax
An LLC which has more than one member is pays income tax as a partnership. The partnership itself does not pay taxes directly to the IRS; the individual partners pay tax based on their share of ownership in the partnership.
The partnership files an information return with the IRS on Form 1065. Then a Schedule K-1 is prepared for each partner, showing the share of the profit/loss of the partnership. The K-1 is filed with the partner's individual return and the gain/loss is shown on the partner's Form 1040.
For All LLC's
The income or loss from the LLC is considered along with other income of the owner (and spouse, if applicable) for the purpose of determining the total tax liability of the owner.
Any profit from the LLC is used to determine the owner's self-employment tax liability; if the LLC has no profit, no self-employment tax is owed for that year.
Alternative Election to Be Taxed as a Corporation
An LLC may elect to be taxed as a corporation. Usually this election is done because it is to the advantage of the business from a tax rate standpoint. The election is submitted through IRS Form 8832 - Entity Classification Election
