Take-home pay in North Carolina by business structure

At $100,000 of profit, an owner in North Carolina keeps $79,029 as an S corporation and $74,436 as a sole proprietor, after 2026 taxes and fees. Change the profit to see your own numbers.

$79,029 a year

kept from $100,000 of profit as an S corporation in North Carolina, after every tax and fee counted here. That is $7,885 more than as a C corporation.

North Carolina, 2026: $100,000 profit, single filer

Structure	Taxes and fees	You keep	Share
Sole proprietorship	$25,564	$74,436	74%
Single-member LLC	$25,695	$74,305	74%
LLC taxed as an S corp	$21,115	$78,885	79%
S corporation most	$20,971	$79,029	79%
C corporation	$28,856	$71,144	71%

What North Carolina takes from a business owner

North Carolina taxes personal income at a flat 3.99% (2026).ncdor.gov, checked Oct 23, 2026
An LLC pays the state Annual Report, $200 a yearsosnc.gov, checked Oct 23, 2026.
North Carolina franchise tax (S corporation) applies to LLC as S corp, S corpncdor.gov, checked Oct 23, 2026.
North Carolina franchise tax (C corporation) applies to C corpncdor.gov, checked Oct 23, 2026.
An S corp in North Carolina can elect to pay the state's income tax itself, a pass-through entity tax of 3.99%, and the owner gets that income left out of the personal return. The company deducts it on the federal return, so it is not held to the SALT cap. The calculator uses it when it lowers the totalncdor.gov.
An S corp owner on payroll pays North Carolina unemployment tax at 1% on the first $34,200 of salary in the first yeardes.nc.gov, checked Oct 23, 2026.

What you keep at each profit

Profit	Sole prop	LLC	LLC as S corp	S corp	C corp
$50,000	$38,923	$38,776	$38,757	$38,916	$36,854
$100,000	$74,436	$74,305	$78,885	$79,029	$71,144
$150,000	$107,340	$107,207	$114,644	$114,785	$101,273
$250,000	$174,764	$174,649	$184,560	$184,701	$163,035
$500,000	$311,786	$311,668	$340,739	$340,865	$310,685

Single filer, no other income, revenue 1.5 times profit, the default salary for S and C corps. The most kept at each profit is green.

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