Florida has no personal income tax: what does a Florida S corporation still file?

An S corporation does not pay federal income tax itself: its profit passes to the owners, who pay tax on their personal returns. Florida does not tax individuals' income (Department of Revenue, tax information for new residents), so for a Florida resident owner that share is taxed only federally. The federal side is the same as in any state:

• Form 1120-S, the S corporation's return, due the 15th day of the third month after its year ends: March 15, 2027 for tax year 2026, with a six-month extension on Form 7004. Late costs money even with no tax due: for returns due in 2026, $255 per shareholder for each month or part of a month, up to 12 months, and $340 for each Schedule K-1 not given to an owner on time (Form 1120-S instructions).
• Schedule K-1 to each owner by the same date, showing their share of income.
• The owner's Form 1040, due April 15, where the K-1 income is taxed, with estimated payments during the year.

The IRS expects an S corporation to pay a reasonable salary to an owner who works in it before paying them non-wage distributions, and it can reclassify distributions as wages when it is not (IRS on S corporation compensation). What is reasonable depends on the owner's duties, training, time spent and what the business would pay someone else to do the work. Paying no salary while taking out the profit is the pattern the IRS challenges, and the result is back payroll taxes with penalties and interest.

Running payroll for one person means everything an employer does: withholding, federal deposits, Form 941 each quarter, Form 940 and a W-2 at year end. For 2026, Social Security tax is 6.2% from the employee and 6.2% from the employer on wages up to $184,500, Medicare is 1.45% each with no limit, plus 0.9% withheld from the employee alone on wages over $200,000, and federal unemployment tax is 6.0% on the first $7,000, usually 0.6% after the state credit (Publication 15).

• Corporate income tax: none for most S corporations. Florida requires Form F-1120 only from an S corporation that pays federal income tax at the corporate level, a case that arises with some built-in gains or passive income. A corporation that opened a Florida corporate income tax account before electing S status sets the account to "in business/not required to file", or the Department still expects Form F-1120 (corporate income tax page).
• Reemployment tax on wages, the owner's salary included: an S corporation's officer who works in it is its employee. A new employer pays 2.7% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages for its first ten quarters, then a rate from its own history, between 0.1% and 5.4% for wages paid in 2026 (rate page). An LLC taxed as an S corporation is treated the same way (LLC page). The Department of Revenue can reclassify distributions as wages when an officer reports none (report and payment page).
• Annual report: $150 for a profit corporation, $138.75 for an LLC, by May 1; the date does not move for a weekend, so in 2027 file by Friday, April 30 (annual report page, corporation fees, LLC fees).
• Sales and use tax if the business sells taxable goods or services (Florida sales tax guide).
• Tangible personal property tax on business equipment, with a return to the county property appraiser by April 1 (tangible property page).

A North Port S corporation earns $180,000 before paying its owner, who works in it full time, and sets the owner's salary at $80,000.

• Payroll taxes on the salary: $6,120 of Social Security and Medicare from the business (7.65%) and the same $6,120 withheld from the owner, $42 of federal unemployment tax and $189 of Florida reemployment tax at the new-employer rate.
• Profit on the K-1: $180,000 less the $80,000 salary, $6,120 of employer payroll tax, $42 and $189 leaves $93,649, reported on the owner's Form 1040 and taxed federally. Florida taxes neither the salary nor the $93,649, and distributions of that profit carry no payroll tax.
• Florida filings in the year: four RT-6 reports, the $150 annual report, a tangible property return if the business owns equipment, and sales tax returns if it sells taxable goods. No Form F-1120.

The salary is the number to get right: high enough that the IRS sees it as pay for the work, documented with what the owner does and what that work costs in the market.

Moving to Florida ends the old state's claim on later income only if the owner really changes residence: home, driver's license, voter registration, where the family lives. The old state can still tax work done there, and the owner's share of business income earned there, through an office, employees or customers that stayed; a mid-year move usually means a part-year return there.

To stay an S corporation, the business may have no more than 100 shareholders, only individuals, certain trusts and estates as owners (no partnerships, corporations or nonresident aliens), and only one class of stock (IRS on S corporations). A late election can be made within 3 years and 75 days of its effective date when there was reasonable cause (Form 2553 instructions).

For the full calendar, see the Florida tax deadlines guide; for the work itself, our tax filing service and payroll.