Business
Disregarded entity
A business that exists legally but is ignored for federal tax purposes, its activity reported on the owner’s own return.
The standard case is a single-member LLC that has made no election. It is a real company with real liability protection, and the IRS looks straight through it to the owner.
Its income and expenses go on the owner’s Schedule C. It generally files no federal income tax return of its own.
Disregarded is a federal income tax concept only. The entity still exists for liability, for state filing fees, and often for payroll and excise tax.
Related
Terms that come up beside this one
LLC
A legal structure that separates a business’s liabilities from its owners, formed with a state.
Sole proprietorship
A business owned by one person that is not legally separate from that person.
Schedule C
The form a sole proprietor files with their personal return to report a business’s income and expenses.