Except as provided below, every domestic partnership must file Form 1065, unless it neither receives income nor incurs any expenditures treated as deductions or credits for federal income tax purposes.

Entities formed as LLCs that are classified as partnerships for federal income tax purposes must file Form 1065.

A religious or apostolic organization exempt from income tax under section 501(d) must file Form 1065 to report its taxable income, which must be allocated to its members as a dividend, whether distributed or not. Such an organization must figure its taxable income on an attachment to Form 1065 in the same manner as a corporation. The organization may use Form 1120, U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return, for this purpose. Enter the organization's taxable income, if any, on line 6a of Schedule K and each member's pro rata share in box 6a of Schedule K-1. Net operating losses are not deductible by the members but may be carried back or forward by the organization under the rules of section 172. The religious or apostolic organization also must make its annual information return available for public inspection. For this purpose, “annual information return” includes an exact copy of Form 1065 and all accompanying schedules and attachments, except Schedules K-1. For more details, see Regulations section 301.6104(d)-1.

A qualifying syndicate, pool, joint venture, or similar organization may elect under section 761(a) not to be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes and will not be required to file Form 1065 except for the year of election. For details, see section 761(a) and Regulations section 1.761-2.

An electing large partnership (as defined in section 775) must file Form 1065-B, U.S. Return of Income for Electing Large Partnerships.

Real estate mortgage investment conduits (REMICs) must file Form 1066, U.S. Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit (REMIC) Income Tax Return.

Certain publicly traded partnerships treated as corporations under section 7704 must file Form 1120.