Form 720 With No Tax to Report

A Form 720 with no tax to report is simple to fill out: enter "None" on Part III, line 3, then sign and date the return. The harder question is whether you need to send one at all. Plenty of filers still do, because the filing rule looks at your past quarters and not just this one. A few filers shouldn't, because they would be filing a return the IRS tells them not to file.

Who must still file with no tax?

The instructions say you must file if you were liable for, or responsible for collecting, a listed tax in a prior quarter and you haven't filed a final return. That covers the seasonal business that had a quiet winter. It also covers the salon that took a quarter off for a remodel. Having no sales doesn't close the requirement. Only a final return does.

If you aren't sure whether any of the listed taxes ever applied to your business, the Form 720 filing check walks through the activities that trigger them.

"None" on line 3 or a zero on the tax line?

The IRS instruction uses two different entries for two different situations, and they are easy to mix up.

• Zero on a line in Part I or II. Use this when you aren't reporting a tax you normally report, while the return as a whole may still show other tax.
• "None" on Part III, line 3. Use this when the whole return has no tax. Line 3 is the total of Part I, line 1, and Part II, line 2, so it is the single line that says the quarter's tax was nothing.

Then the return needs a signature and a date. A person authorized by the entity must sign. An unsigned return with "None" on it doesn't meet the instruction, which lists signing and dating as part of the same step.

What can be left out of a no-tax return?

Form 720 has attachments that exist only because of tax, so a true zero quarter sheds most of them.

• Schedule A. The form's note says you must complete it if you have a liability for any tax in Part I. No Part I liability means that requirement isn't triggered.
• Deposits. Pub. 510 says that generally you don't have to make a deposit for a period with no tax liability, so line 5 stays empty unless you did deposit something.
• Schedule C claims. The instructions say not to use Schedule C if you aren't reporting a liability in Part I or II. This one catches people out. A quarter with no tax can't carry a Schedule C claim. If you have a fuel credit or refund to claim, the instructions point to Form 4136 and Form 8849 as the other routes for those claims.

A prior overpayment still works differently. If you carried an amount from an earlier return, it goes on line 6 even in a no-tax quarter. With line 3 at nothing, that amount flows to line 11, where you choose to apply it to the next return or take a refund.

Two special cases: the PCORI fee and treaty positions

PCORI-only filers. This is the group most likely to send an unneeded return. The PCORI fee belongs on the second-quarter Form 720 only. The instructions say that if you file only to report the fee, you shouldn't file for the first, third, or fourth quarter. If a payroll or benefits team has been sending "None" returns in those quarters, nothing in the instructions asks for them. The PCORI fee page covers the annual return in detail.

Treaty-based positions on foreign insurance. This is the one place the instructions ask for "None" on two lines. A filer claiming a treaty exemption from the foreign insurance tax makes the disclosure with the first-quarter Form 720. If that filer has no other reportable transactions, it enters "Section 6114 Treaty" at the top of Form 720, enters "None" on lines 1 and 3, checks "Final" if it is the final return, signs, and mails it with Form 8833 or a disclosure statement to the Where To File address.

A zero quarter, worked through

Here's a made-up case. A small fishing lure maker reports sport fishing tax in its busy quarters. It had no sales in January through March 2027 but expects sales in spring.

• Must it file? Yes. It was liable in a prior quarter and hasn't filed a final return.
• What does it enter? "None" on line 3, with a signature and date.
• Does it check "Final"? No. It expects to owe again.
• When is it due? April 30, 2027, which is a Friday, so the date doesn't move.

If that same maker sold the business in March and will never make lures again, the only change is the checked "Final return" box. Full dates for each quarter are in our Form 720 due date guide.

Filing a no-tax quarter with EasyFile720

If your answer above was "file," you can file Form 720 online with EasyFile720. It's free to create an account with no credit card needed to start, and you pay when you file, at $39.95 per filing. The filing is guided from business details through to submission, validations catch common mistakes before you submit, and you sign electronically. You get an electronic acknowledgment from the IRS once the return is accepted, and your past returns are saved in your account.

Businesses that bounce between taxable and quiet quarters may want to compare per-filing cost with the Full Year Plan on the pricing page. And if your answer was "don't file," that's the right result. A PCORI-only filer in the third quarter has nothing to do until the second-quarter return comes around, and there is no reason to pay for a filing you don't need. See the online filing page when that return is due.

FAQ

Sources: Form 720 (Rev. June 2026); Instructions for Form 720 (Rev. June 2026); Pub. 510 (Rev. December 2025). General information, not tax advice. Confirm how the rules apply to you with a qualified advisor or the IRS.