NAICS code for an LLC

There is no NAICS code for an LLC. NAICS classifies what a business does, not how it is organized, so an LLC, a corporation, a partnership and a sole proprietorship that all run a dental practice share the same code: 621210, offices of dentists. Your job is to find the code for your activity. Describe the business in the NAICS calculator and it returns the code in a few seconds.

This page covers how to pick a code for a new LLC, the cases that trip people up (holding companies, consultants, online sellers) and how the IRS code on your tax return relates to your NAICS code.

Why entity type does not matter

The Census Bureau built NAICS to group establishments that use similar processes to produce goods or services. Legal form tells you nothing about the process. Two plumbers, one an LLC and one an S corporation, buy the same parts, hire the same trades and carry the same risks. They get the same code, 238220.

Entity type matters elsewhere. It decides which tax return you file, how owners are paid and how liability works. It does not change your classification. Lenders also read the two separately: the NAICS code tells them the industry risk, the entity documents tell them who signs and who guarantees.

How to pick a code for a new LLC

New businesses have no revenue history, so pick based on the activity you will run from day one.

1. Write one sentence that names what you sell, who buys it and how you deliver it.
2. Find the two digit sector that fits that sentence, then narrow to six digits. The NAICS codes list shows all 20 sectors.
3. If you will do two things, choose the one you expect to earn the most revenue in the first year.
4. Read the official definition of the code, including the exclusions, which often name the better code.
5. Use the same code on your tax return, SBA profile, SAM.gov registration, insurance application and loan applications.

The step by step guide on how to find your NAICS code walks through each step with examples.

Common codes for small businesses and LLCs

Holding company LLCs

Many owners set up a parent LLC that owns one or more operating companies. If the parent does nothing but hold controlling interests, its code is 551112, offices of other holding companies. Bank holding companies use 551111. A parent that actively manages its subsidiaries through a central office with staff is closer to 551114, corporate, subsidiary and regional managing offices.

The operating companies keep their own codes. A holding LLC that owns two restaurants files as 551112, while each restaurant LLC files as 722511. When you borrow, the lender underwrites the entity that earns the revenue, so the operating company code is the one that drives pricing and lender selection. The SBA size standard for 551112 is $45.5 million in average annual receipts under 13 CFR 121.201, and SBA size counts affiliates, so the holding company and everything it controls are measured together.

A parent LLC that owns real estate and leases it to its own operating company is a different case. Its code is 531120, lessors of nonresidential buildings, and the SBA treats it as an eligible passive company when it leases the property to an affiliated operating business. Our page on NAICS codes and business loans covers how lenders read real estate codes.

Consultants

"Consultant" covers a dozen industries, so the word alone does not give you a code. The code follows the subject of the advice.

• General business strategy, operations and organization: 541611.
• Human resources and compensation: 541612.
• Marketing and sales strategy: 541613.
• Supply chain, logistics and process: 541614.
• Other management areas, such as telecommunications or utilities: 541618.
• Technical subjects outside management, such as environmental or agricultural consulting: 541690.
• IT consulting that designs systems is 541512; writing custom code is 541511.

The full breakdown, with solo consultant examples, is on the NAICS code for consulting page.

Online sellers after the 2022 revision

NAICS 2017 had a single code, 454110 electronic shopping and mail order houses, for businesses that sold online. NAICS 2022 removed it. The Census Bureau now classifies online retailers by the products they sell, the same way it classifies physical stores.

If you make the products yourself and sell them online, you are a manufacturer, not a retailer. A candle maker selling on its own site is 339999, all other miscellaneous manufacturing, not a retail code. If you sell to other businesses rather than consumers, look in wholesale trade, sector 42.

Schedule C codes versus NAICS codes

Sole proprietors and single member LLCs report a principal business code on Schedule C line B. Multi member LLCs file Form 1065 and report it in item C. An LLC that elects S corporation status reports it in item B of Form 1120-S, and one taxed as a C corporation reports it on Schedule K of Form 1120.

The IRS list is built from NAICS but is not identical to it. It uses six digits and matches NAICS for most codes, but it groups some industries together. Management consultants of every type file under 541600 on Schedule C, while NAICS splits them into 541611 through 541690. Couriers file under 492000, while NAICS has 492110 and 492210. The IRS also updates its list on its own schedule, so use the code printed in that year's Schedule C instructions on the tax return and the full NAICS 2022 code everywhere else.

The two codes should point to the same activity. A lender who sees 541600 on your return and 541611 on your application sees one consistent business. A lender who sees 541600 on the return and 236220 on the application asks questions. Our page on the NAICS code on your tax return lists the common pairs.

When your LLC changes what it does

Codes are not permanent. If your LLC started as a retailer and now earns most of its revenue installing what it sells, the code should move with it. Nobody approves the change; you update it in each place it appears. The guide on how to change your NAICS code shows where.

Why the right code matters when you borrow

Lenders screen applications by NAICS code before they read anything else. The code sets which lenders will look at the file, which products are on the table and how the deal is priced. An LLC with the right code reaches lenders that already fund its industry. Start an application and the AI matches the deal to lenders that fund your code.