Is a Tax Return necessary for a LLC holding property w/ no income

[Chris Hamm]

Hey folks.  

I created a LLC to own a vacation property in Virginia. The LLC has 4 members. Each own 25%. We own the land and the house in the name of the LLC.

We have never rented it, and never plan to rent it.   

So we only have the expenses of buying the land, building the house, and ongoing maintenance.  We put roughly $350K in so far.  

Every website I read about the tax return filing requirements suggests that it is necessary if it has income, but I found this:

Filing Requirements for an LLC Partnership

An LLC that is taxed as a partnership is subject to the same federal income tax return filing requirements as any other partnership. The LLC must file an informational partnership tax return on tax form 1065 unless it did not receive any income during the year AND did not have any expenses that it will claim as deductions or credits.

Thus, an LLC with no business activity that is taxed as a partnership is not required to file a partnership tax return unless there are expenses or credits that the LLC wants to claim.

So I read this and think I do not need to file an annual Federal Tax Return.  

The only benefit that I can think of is what would happen if/when we sell.  Having the expenses would affect any capital gains.  Is this accurate?  Am I missing something else important?

[Brandon Hall]

@Russell Brazil thanks for tagging me.

@Chris Hamm general rule for partnerships with no activity is that you don't need to file a return on the federal level. You may still have state filing obligations as @Matthew Kreitzer has advised.

Just because it's a general rule though, doesn't mean you should take this advice. You need a CPA to review your situation prior to forgoing filing a partnership return. The CPA may find you are required to file.