Key takeaways
- Nevada levies no personal, business or corporate income tax, so there is no state S corp return, no state S election and no Nevada pass-through entity tax election to make.
- The federal Form 1120-S for a calendar-year 2026 corporation is due March 15, 2027, and Form 7004 extends the filing date by six months but not the payment date.
- Commerce Tax applies only above $4,000,000 of Nevada gross revenue, and it runs on a July 1 to June 30 year, not the calendar year.
- The Modified Business Tax return is filed every quarter, even when the client owes nothing.
What Nevada does not require
The Nevada Department of Taxation says the state levies no personal, business or corporate income tax. For an S corporation that means there is no entity return to prepare, no state-level S election to file after Form 2553 is accepted by the IRS, and no state estimated tax for the corporation to pay.
It also removes the pass-through problems that dominate S corp work elsewhere. With no Nevada income tax, there is no nonresident shareholder withholding or composite return to file in Nevada, and this guide found no elective entity-level tax. If a shareholder lives in another state, the filing question moves to that state.
The federal return does the heavy lifting
Form 1120-S is due on the 15th day of the third month after year end. For a calendar-year corporation that was March 16, 2026 for tax year 2025, because March 15 fell on a Sunday. For tax year 2026 the same rule gives March 15, 2027.
Form 7004 gives an automatic extension, generally six months, and it has to be filed on or before the original due date. It extends the time to file, not the time to pay, which matters less for an S corporation than for a C corporation but still matters if the corporation owes tax, for example on built-in gains.
The penalty for a late return is large for a small company. For returns required to be filed in 2026 with no tax due, it was $255 for each month or part of a month, up to 12 months, multiplied by the number of shareholders. A three-shareholder corporation that files four months late has a $3,060 penalty before any tax is counted. That amount is adjusted, so check the 2026 instructions before quoting a number for a return filed in 2027.
Confirm the election itself in the first year. Form 2553 must generally be filed no more than 2 months and 15 days after the start of the tax year it is meant to cover, and the instructions say not to file Form 1120-S unless Form 2553 has been filed or is attached. A client who formed a Nevada corporation in the spring and never filed Form 2553 is filing the wrong return.
Commerce Tax: the test is Nevada gross revenue
Nevada imposes the Commerce Tax on each business entity whose Nevada gross revenue in a taxable year exceeds $4,000,000. Below that, the Department says the business is exempt. The taxable year is July 1 through June 30, which is why a calendar-year S corporation can be over the threshold on its 1120-S and still be under it for Commerce Tax, or the reverse.
The return is due on or before the 45th day after the taxable year ends. For the year that ended June 30, 2026, the Department gave August 14, 2026, which has already passed. For the year ending June 30, 2027, work from the same 45-day rule and confirm the exact date on the Department's page, since a weekend moves it to the next business day.
If the client is near the line, do not wait for August. In November, run Nevada-sourced revenue from the books for July through October and project it to June 30, 2027. A client at $2,100,000 for four months is on pace for $6,300,000. The Department may extend payment for good cause by not more than 30 days, and interest runs at 0.75 percent per month during that extension, so an extension saves a penalty, not money.
Revenue sourcing is the part clients get wrong. A Las Vegas contractor with out-of-state jobs needs a Nevada versus other-state split by job site, so ask for it before the revenue is final.
Modified Business Tax on wages
The Modified Business Tax is a payroll tax, and officer wages count, so a one-shareholder S corporation paying itself a salary is an employer for this purpose. The rate for most general business employers is 1.17%, reduced from 1.378% effective July 1, 2023, and the first $50,000 of wages remains non-taxable under NRS 363B.110.
The return is filed quarterly, and the Department says it is due on or before the last day of the month following the quarter. Its own example is the quarter from October 1 through December 31, 2023, due on or before January 31, 2024. Returns are required even when no wages were paid or no tax is due, so a dormant corporation that skips them is building a delinquency for no reason.
Worked example. An S corporation pays $180,000 in taxable wages for one quarter. The tax is 1.17% of the wages above the $50,000 exemption: $130,000 times 1.17% is $1,521. Check that the wage figure on the MBT return matches payroll.
Annual list and state business license
A Nevada corporation files an annual list with the Secretary of State on or before the last day of the month in which the anniversary of incorporation falls. The fee is $150 for a corporation whose authorized shares total $75,000 or less, and it rises with the stock tiers in NRS 78.150. A default adds a $75 penalty under NRS 78.170(3).
The state business license is renewed in the same filing. For corporations the renewal fee is $500, against $200 for most other entities, and a late payment carries a $100 penalty on top of the annual fee. Put the anniversary month on the client record, because it does not move with the tax year and no tax software will remind anyone.
Documents to collect from the client
For Form 1120-S, ask for the Form 2553 and the IRS acceptance letter, the prior-year return, the shareholder list with ownership percentages and any mid-year stock changes, and a signed Form 8879-S once the return is ready. Form 8879-S is the e-file signature authorization, completed by an officer and the electronic return originator.
For Nevada, ask for four more items: a Nevada versus other-state revenue split by month, the last four quarterly MBT returns with payment confirmations, the Secretary of State annual list receipt with the anniversary month, and the current state business license. A request worded 'Please upload your last four Nevada MBT quarterly returns, even the ones showing zero' gets a better answer than a request for any state filings.
Also ask where each shareholder lives and whether the company has employees, property or customers in another state. That is the question that decides whether another state's return, withholding or composite filing applies, and it is the one Nevada's lack of an income tax makes easy to forget. Usual can send this as a request with upload fields and automatic reminders, so the answers arrive in one place before preparation starts.