Why is this comparison educational rather than advice?

This route shows an estimated federal tax difference only. It does not recommend an entity choice, election, or filing position for your situation, and it does not weigh legal, operational, compensation, or state-specific facts that may matter just as much as the displayed tax gap.

Why do I have to enter the salary myself?

BizTax does not determine or suggest a reasonable salary. You provide that assumption directly because salary reasonableness depends on facts that this route does not collect and is never something the page should guess for you.

Which factors are excluded from this comparison?

This comparison leaves out state fees, payroll administration, legal setup, benefits changes, reasonable-compensation scrutiny, QBI effects, entity-law differences, and other non-modeled factors. That means a visible federal tax difference may narrow, disappear, or reverse once those outside costs are reviewed elsewhere.

What federal-only assumptions are in force here?

The LLC-style side runs self-employment tax on full business income, while the S-Corp-style side applies payroll tax only to the salary you entered. State tax, entity-law differences, and payroll-administration costs stay outside this route so the headline result remains a narrow federal comparison.

What reviewed tax year does this comparison use?

This route uses the reviewed federal 2026 payroll and self-employment assumptions shown on the page badges and trust surfaces. If the review year is not the current filing year, the stale warning keeps that fact visible so the result reads as an educational estimate rather than a filing instruction.

Entity comparison

Compare LLC vs S-Corp federal tax for 2026

Compare the narrow federal payroll-tax versus self-employment-tax slice only for the reviewed 2026 year. This route does not recommend an entity choice, does not choose a salary for you, and does not model the state or operating costs that often decide the real outcome.

U.S. tax onlyEducational estimates, not tax advice.

Reviewed federal tax year: 2026Last updated: March 31, 2026

Calculator inputs

Enter the details for an educational estimate

Estimate result

Estimated annual difference

Enter the reviewed year, total business income, your own reasonable salary assumption, and filing status to compare the narrow federal tax slice shown here.

U.S. tax only

Educational estimates, not tax advice.

Trust and disclosure

Check the method before you rely on this estimate

Educational comparison only. Uses simplified federal assumptions and excludes many legal and operating factors. Not tax, legal, or financial advice. No affiliate provider is active on this route.

Reviewed federal tax year: 2026

Last updated: March 31, 2026

Estimate method

How this comparison works

Start with total business income and the salary assumption you entered, because this route never estimates or recommends the salary value itself.
Run the LLC-style side by sending full business income through the reviewed self-employment tax assumptions for the selected federal year.
Run the S-Corp-style side by applying payroll tax assumptions only to the salary you entered, including employer and employee payroll portions.
Compare the two simplified federal totals and show the estimated annual difference without turning that difference into an entity recommendation.
Keep state fees, QBI, payroll administration, legal setup, and compensation-review risk outside the headline result so the boundary of the estimate stays explicit.

Reviewed scenarios

Worked examples

Approved example EC26-05Reviewed tax year 2026

Lower-income comparison example

With $30,000.00 of business income and a $15,000.00 salary assumption, this reviewed example shows about $4,238.87 on the LLC-style side and $2,295.00 on the S-Corp-style side, leaving an estimated difference of $1,943.87. In this reviewed example, the LLC-style side comes out higher. It helps frame the comparison before larger salary or wage-base interactions start to distort the picture.

Reviewed assumptions

This worked example stays in educational federal comparison mode and does not recommend an entity choice.
The salary assumption is user supplied and not suggested by BizTax.

Traceability checks

The result remains an educational comparison only and does not recommend an election or filing position.
The route does not determine a reasonable salary for you.
The S-Corp-style side compares payroll tax only on the user-entered salary.

Approved example EC26-07Reviewed tax year 2026

Higher-income comparison example

With $300,000.00 of business income and a $180,000.00 salary assumption, this reviewed example reaches about $31,605.90 on the LLC-style side and $27,540.00 on the S-Corp-style side, leaving an estimated difference of $4,065.90. In this reviewed example, the LLC-style side comes out higher. It is useful for seeing how the federal-only spread can widen while non-modeled state or admin costs still stay outside view.

Reviewed assumptions

This worked example stays in educational federal comparison mode and does not recommend an entity choice.
The salary assumption is user supplied and not suggested by BizTax.

Traceability checks

The result remains an educational comparison only and does not recommend an election or filing position.
The route does not determine a reasonable salary for you.
The S-Corp-style side compares payroll tax only on the user-entered salary.

Approved example EC26-09Reviewed tax year 2026

Near-zero-difference comparison example

With $50,000.00 of business income and a $46,175.00 salary assumption, this reviewed example keeps the LLC-style side near $7,064.78 and the S-Corp-style side near $7,064.78, leaving an estimated difference of $0.00. In this reviewed example, both sides come out even. It is the clearest reminder that a small displayed gap may be less important than the non-modeled items outside this route.

Reviewed assumptions

This worked example stays in educational federal comparison mode and does not recommend an entity choice.
The salary assumption is user supplied and not suggested by BizTax.

Traceability checks

The result remains an educational comparison only and does not recommend an election or filing position.
The route does not determine a reasonable salary for you.
The S-Corp-style side compares payroll tax only on the user-entered salary.

Questions about this LLC vs S-Corp estimate

Disclaimer

Educational comparison only. Uses simplified federal assumptions and excludes many legal and operating factors. Not tax, legal, or financial advice. No affiliate provider is active on this route.