Can Pilot do my business’ taxes? Yes*

The short answer is yes, in most scenarios, for both the business and the owner.

There are some caveats. As you’ve probably learned in researching this, U.S. taxes are complicated. So complicated, they create a $536 billion drag on the U.S. economy. There’s state, federal, and local tax, dozens of different types of tax, and niche rules nobody but a career tax accountant would ever know. With 50 states and 7,000 localities in the U.S., no one person can understand it all. 

In this article, I explain what we can offer you in terms of business tax preparation. We do it for C-Corps, LLCs, partnerships, and S-Corps, at the federal, state, and local level. We can also handle your personal income tax return along with your business return. Read on for details.

More resources

• What are small business taxes? 
• 14 deductions you should know about it
• Visit our tax center → 

Pilot has an unfair advantage in doing your taxes

Pilot didn’t always offer taxes prep but we have always offered bookkeeping. And bookkeeping is the most important ingredient in not overpaying on your taxes. That’s because business tax prep is really just an accountant doing the math on all your transactions at year end, money in and money out, applying any deductions, and telling the government what you made. Then, you make a payment, or request a refund, and the IRS or tax body decides if you were right. 

If you have a bookkeeper doing your books every month, by the time tax time arrives, your numbers are all ready

It’s smart to be doing that bookkeeping throughout the year, not just at the end. It helps you catch unnecessary expenses, understand your cash flow, and steer the business to profitability. Versus looking back at all those statements and saying, “Geez, why did we pay all those fees all year?”

Seriously, a bookkeeper can save you a lot at tax time.

Now on to our tax offerings.

Pilots' tax offerings include

Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping is so important, we do your books continuously throughout the year. That way, you get up-to-date financial statements, cash dashboards, Pilot AI, and a bookkeeper.

Full tax prep with your books
We handle your federal and state income filing. We also file some forms like your contractor 1099-NECs and your Delaware franchise tax filing.

A dedicated tax preparer
You’ll get a dedicated tax preparer with decades of experience navigating the U.S. business tax system. They can answer your questions and help you get all the info you need. 

Streamlined online process
Your tax preparer and bookkeeper work seamlessly behind the scenes to get all your filings done on time. Rest easy with access to live status updates for your tax filings.

That said, the type of tax help we can offer you varies by your company's entity type. We cover that next.

Tax prep for C-Corps

If you're a C-Corp, we can do your taxes starting at inception, which is great, because we’ll build a history together. If your startup is pre-revenue and losing money, we know how to handle that. If you’re profitable and growing with deferred revenue, we know that too.

We also know how to help you avoid overpaying on taxes. Hapily's experience with Pilot bookkeeping and tax prep illustrates this. The CEO Connor sold part of the business to one of their former co-founders. He assumed that he could simply list it as income, just as he had when they were an LLC. But they’d transitioned to a C-Corp, and those rules are different. 

Luckily, Hapily’s pilot bookkeeper spotted that transaction and pulled in a Pilot controller to rule on how to recognize that revenue in a way that reduced Hapily’s tax bill.

For C-Corps, Pilot can:

• File a tax extension
• File your federal income taxes
• File your state income taxes
• Handle your Delaware franchise tax
• Handle your foreign financial account disclosures
• File your 1099-NECs (depends on how many)
• File your city taxes

Get tax help as a C-Corp →

Tax prep for single-member LLCs

LLCs do not file corporate taxes the same as C-Corps. Instead, they pay taxes as if it’s all just the owner’s personal income. That can make things complicated, especially when the owner is filing jointly with a spouse, and if that spouse’s tax situation is complex.

Take Fenwick, for example. This creative studio had multiple LLCs with multiple minority owners, because some lawyer had long ago advised them to set things up this way. It wasn’t a very good tax situation, and they learned one year they’d overpaid $40,000 on taxes. When asked, their prior accountant said, “Well I didn’t know your full situation.” Fenwick switched to Pilot, and Pilot ran the analysis to convert Fenwick into an S-Corp, thereby reducing their tax burden. (This isn’t tax advice, that isn't the right answer for every agency.)

For single-member LLCs, Pilot can:

• File a tax extension
• File your personal income tax return form 1040
• File your state income tax
• File your city income tax
• Handle your foreign financial account disclosures
• Calculate your quarterly tax payments (safe harbor)
• Generate a schedule C for your LLC’s income and loss
• Report for your W-2, K-1, rental property, and 1099 income

Get tax help as an LLC →

Tax prep for partnerships (LLPs) and S-Corps

Partnerships and S-Corps must file tax returns even though they do not pay taxes at the federal level. They are considered pass-through entities and the income is reported on each member/owner’s personal tax return, much like an LLC. 

For LLPs and S-Corps, Pilot can:

• File a tax extension
• State income tax
• Handle your Delaware franchise tax if needed
• File for your foreign subsidiaries
• Handle your foreign financial account disclosures
• File your 1099-NECs (depending on how many)

Get tax help as an LLP or S-Corp → 

Tax prep for individuals

Pilot only handles tax prep for individuals when you are the owner and we’re also doing your business taxes. If you’re looking for personal income tax prep separate from the business, we recommend reaching out to a local tax accountant or large scale provider like H&R Block.

Thinking of DIY-ing? 

As you can see, taxes in the U.S. aren’t simple. And while you could always DIY it, we recommend you don’t. Just like underpaying yourself can create distractions, there’s really no advantage to your startup in learning the U.S. tax code. Focus on what you do best. Let a tax expert worry about the taxes.

Want to talk to someone about your tax situation? Reach out to Pilot.