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Schedule C

Also called: IRS Schedule C, Form 1040 Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business

The IRS form sole proprietors and single-member LLCs use to report business income and expenses on their personal tax return.

Full definition

Schedule C is where the vast majority of solo operators — freelancers, tradespeople, side hustlers, Etsy sellers, contractors — file their business taxes. It attaches to Form 1040 and reports gross receipts minus business expenses to produce net profit or loss, which flows to Schedule 1 and then to the main 1040. Expenses categorize into IRS-standard buckets (car expenses, supplies, contract labor, home office, etc.) and every business bookkeeping system that serves solo operators should output data that maps to these buckets cleanly.

Used for

  • sole proprietor tax filing
  • single-member LLC tax filing
  • solo business bookkeeping

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