Self-employed taxes and LLC costs in Florida, 2026
Florida leaves pass-through profit untaxed, so the decisions that matter are federal ones and the date of the annual report.
Total tax on this income in 2026
$17,800
Put aside 21% of each payment · $4,450 per quarter
| Self-employment tax (15.3%) | $12,010 |
| Federal income tax | $5,790 |
| Florida income tax | $0 |
| QBI deduction used | $12,579 |
| Effective rate on all income | 20.9% |
With an S corp election and a $34,000 salary, about $3,591 less tax (check it).
Computed by Radif Partners from IRS and Florida agency documents read on October 15, 2026 · How we calculate
Florida has no personal income tax, so profit from a sole proprietorship, a single-member LLC or an S corporation is taxed only by the IRS. On $75,000 of net profit a single filer owes about $15,495, all of it federal income and self-employment tax; at $120,000 the total is $28,462. An LLC costs $125 to form, the $100 filing fee plus $25 for designating a registered agent, and $138.75 for each annual report filed between January 1 and May 1, which puts five years at $818.75. A report filed after May 1 carries a $400 late charge, often the largest Florida cost a small LLC ever pays. Florida follows the S election and does not tax the corporation's ordinary income. Payroll adds the reemployment tax, paid by the employer alone, on the owner's salary. With $120,000 of profit and a $50,000 salary, the election saves about $5,139 a year.
Florida at a glance, 2026
| LLC filing fee | $125 |
| Annual Report | $139 a year |
| Income tax | none on wages or business income |
| S corporation election | followed by the state |
| Tax on $75,000 of profit (single) | $15,495 in all, $0 to Florida |
The number to remember in Florida is not a tax rate but a date. The LLC annual report is accepted from January 1 to May 1, and the statute adds a $400 late charge to a report filed after that (Fla. Stat. 607.193). For an LLC whose yearly cost is otherwise $138.75, a missed deadline nearly quadruples the bill. The fee itself is two pieces: a $50 annual report fee under the LLC statute and an $88.75 supplemental corporate fee collected with it (Fla. Stat. 605.0213).
What no income tax means for a freelancer
Without a state return, your quarterly planning is purely federal. The set-aside you need on each invoice is the federal one: about 21% of profit at $75,000 and 24% at $120,000 for a single filer. Moving from a taxed state changes the arithmetic in a visible way, as the comparison below shows with Georgia, Florida's northern neighbor.
The same profit in another state
Georgia minus Florida
$3,889
| Georgia | $3,889 |
| Florida | $0 |
Federal estimated payments are still due when you expect to owe $1,000 or more for the year, on the dates in the quarterly estimated tax guide. Florida itself asks individuals for nothing.
Formation paperwork is short. The articles of organization and the registered agent designation go in together, and the two optional extras the state sells at that point are a certified copy for $30 and a certificate of status for $5; neither is needed to start doing business, and neither changes the yearly cost.
Where Florida does tax a business
The state corporate income tax exists, and it reaches some small owners. An LLC that elects to be taxed as a C corporation pays 5.5% on its income after a $50,000 exemption (Florida DOR, corporate income tax). An S corporation normally files no Florida corporate return at all. The exception is income the corporation itself pays federal tax on, such as built-in gains or excess passive income reported on Form 1120-S; that portion is taxed by Florida with the same exemption. For a service business that has always been an S corporation, the exception rarely applies. The C corp vs S corp comparison shows why most one-owner companies avoid the C route.
Reemployment tax on the owner's salary
Florida's reemployment tax is paid by employers only; nothing is withheld from wages (Florida DOR, reemployment tax). An S corp owner who pays a salary is an employee, so the company owes 2.7 % on the first $7,000 of that salary as a new employer, $189 a year. The LLC vs S corp calculator counts it with the federal payroll taxes.