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The Daily Insight

Where do payroll expenses go on 1120S?

Author

Mia Ramsey

Published May 13, 2026

S corporations are able to deduct the employer portion of any payroll taxes they paid during the year. Business owners should record payroll tax expense on line 12 of Form 1120S, entitled “taxes and licenses.” Only include the employer portion of payroll taxes as an expense.

Can you write off payroll expenses?

Salaries and Wages as Tax-Deductible Expenses. Generally speaking, the salaries, wages, commissions, and bonuses you have paid to the employees of your small business are tax-deductible expenses if they are deemed to be: Ordinary and necessary. Reasonable in amount.

Payroll taxes paid for employees are reported on line 12 of the 1120S (as are other taxes and licenses). If you are asking because you are trying to fill in your 1120S, look to see what you sent to the IRS using form(s) 941, lines 5a through 5d, in column 2.

How to do payroll for single member’s Corporation?

Payroll Breakdown Reasonable Compensation $50,000 Social Security and Medicare Taxes ($3,825) Estimated Federal Income Taxes ($6,000) Net Annual Salary $40,175 Paychecks Per Year ÷24

What’s the salary limit for an S corporation?

For 2020, the wage base limit is $137,700. This means that social security taxes will only be taken out on income up to that amount. For this reason, many think it’s reasonable for an S Corporation to pay this amount in shareholder wages. This rule of thumb does reportedly work well for those whose company profits are higher than this amount.

How much do you have to pay in payroll taxes?

For example, if your salary is $50,000, then your company will pay $3,825 for these payroll taxes, and you will also pay $3,825 to those same tax categories over the course of the year. Next, you need to determine how much you, as an employee, will owe for your federal income taxes.

Can A S Corp owner pay himself reasonable compensation?

Keep in mind the IRS’s guidelines: The amount of reasonable compensation will never exceed the amount received by the shareholder either directly or indirectly. Because Scott received no distribution, he is not required to pay himself Reasonable Compensation, either.