Performance and reporting

Schedule K-1

Also called K-1, Form 1065 Schedule K-1.

Definition

Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) is the annual IRS form on which a partnership, including a fund organised as a limited partnership, reports to each partner their share of the partnership's income, gains, losses, deductions and credits for the tax year, so that the partner can report those items on their own return.

Updated October 9, 2026Checked against our editorial standards

Example

In 2026 a fund realises a $10M long-term gain on one exit, earns $50,000 of interest on its cash, and incurs $1,200,000 of management fees. An LP with a 10% interest receives a K-1 showing $1,000,000 of long-term capital gain, $5,000 of interest income and a $120,000 share of the fee, reported in the character the fund's tax adviser has determined for it. The K-1 also shows the LP's tax-basis capital account, which will not match their quarterly statement because the fund's unrealised gains on its other holdings are not in it.

Confused with

Capital account statement. Quarterly, on the fund's accounting basis, and including unrealised marks. The K-1 is annual, on a tax basis, and reports only what has been realised or earned.

Form 1065. Form 1065 is the partnership's own return, filed with the IRS. The K-1 is the schedule to it that goes to each partner.

In practice

For a calendar-year partnership the K-1 is due March 15, with a six-month extension available. Most funds take the extension, because their own K-1s depend on K-1s from portfolio companies and underlying vehicles that arrive late. LPs with their own filing deadlines ask for estimates in the meantime, and a K-1 that arrives in September is a frequent LP complaint.

Sources

IRS: About Schedule K-1 (Form 1065)www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-schedule-k-1-form-1065

Related terms

Capital account statementA capital account statement is the periodic report, usually quarterly, that shows a single limited partner the movement in their capital account over the period: opening balance, contributions, allocated income, gains and losses, management fees and expenses, distributions, and closing balance, alongside their commitment and unfunded commitment.
Capital accountA capital account is the running balance of a single partner's economic interest in a fund: contributions in, allocations of income, gains and losses, less distributions out.
Fund administratorA fund administrator is the firm, or the software operated in-house, that maintains a private fund's books: partner capital accounts, capital call and distribution processing, fee and waterfall calculations, NAV, investor statements and audit support.
FATCA and CRSFATCA (the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) and CRS (the OECD Common Reporting Standard) are automatic tax information exchange regimes under which a fund treated as a financial institution must collect tax residency self-certifications from each investor and report certain account holders to its local tax authority, which passes the information to the investor's home jurisdiction.