important 2022 Tax Deadlines For C-Corp Startup Companies

Among the many decisions, stresses, and considerations that startup founders face, choosing where to incorporate is not often at the forefront of founders’ minds. While some businesses choose to incorporate in Delaware at the company’s inception, many founders naturally ask why this additional and seemingly unnecessary step is required – or why the company should even incorporate in Delaware, to begin with.

However, it should be pointed out that this early decision can have lasting impacts, particularly when startups begin seeking outside capital. As enumerated below, there are many reasons the overwhelming majority of successful startups are incorporated in Delaware.  A law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP wrote a useful blog post about why most VC-funded, as well as 50% of all publicly traded companies, are incorporated in the state of Delaware. If you are seeking outside funding for your startup, Delaware incorporation may be required by VCs or angel investors.  A few of the reasons include: 

• Investors Prefer Delaware Corporations – venture capital firms, angel investors, and startup accelerators prefer— or even require — that startups be incorporated in Delaware before they will make an investment.  
• Most Public Companies are Incorporated in Delaware – Nearly 1.4 million legal entities are incorporated in Delaware (including over two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies), and approximately 80 percent of U.S.-based initial public offerings choose the state as their corporate home. As a result, there is broad familiarity with Delaware law among many companies, investors, and attorneys.
• Delaware is Focused on Business – The Delaware legislature pays close attention to developments in business law, which means there are frequent amendments to keep the state’s regulations and statutes up to date. In 1899, when Delaware enacted its General Corporation Law, the state laid the foundation for itself to become the incorporation hub of the United States. Delaware has a special incentive to maintain this reputation, as it receives several hundred million dollars per year (approximately 15-20 percent of the state’s budget) from corporate franchise taxes. In contrast, other state legislatures lack either the expertise or the incentive (or both) to update such laws with the same frequency as Delaware. Today, the largest tech companies, including Google and Facebook, are all incorporated in Delaware.

The most important tax deadlines in 2022 for C-Corporation (C-Corps) are the April 15th federal Form 1120 tax return, which can be extended to October 15th, and the March, June, Sept and December Delaware Franchise estimated payments. 

The 8 Most Important Startup Tax Deadlines

Kruze Consulting put together a useful article about the 8 most important tax deadlines for startups. Even recently founded early-stage startups can have compliance and regulatory filing requirements. And like it or not, it is very important to keep your company in compliance, because when that venture capital term sheet comes, or the M&A due diligence starts, you really want to make sure that you’re not sending negative signals and don’t do anything that might delay that transaction. 

Additionally, you open your company up to a lot of potential regulatory issues – you can lose your corporation, or get hit with a bunch of penalties or extra paperwork – things that can distract you from building your company.

So here are the most important compliance deadlines to keep track of:

• W2’s to employees
• 1099’s to all contractors
• Delaware Franchise Fee
• State Franchise Fees
• Federal & State Returns/Filings
• R&D Credit and related Studies
• Municipal or City Filings
• Sales Tax

This might seem a little exhausting, but compliance is important. 

Important dates to remember for 2022

We have a more complete list above, but the most important corporate tax deadline for 2022 is the April 15th, 2022 IRS Form 1120 due date – and state tax returns are do as well on the 15th. In addition to the main corp tax deadline of April 15th, c corps also have estimated quarterly taxes due April 15h, June 15th and September 15th. 

Form 1120 Due Date 2022

In the year 2022, the federal tax filing date for c-corporations is April 15th (so the Form 1120 is due for the tax year 2021 on April of 2022). C-corps can file an extension with the IRS Form 7004.

Have any questions feel free to contact Huckabee CPA for a free consultation.