According to the Summer 2009 Statistics of Income Bulletin, there were about 23.1 million individual income tax returns that reported nonfarm sole proprietorship activity for 2007. This represents a 4.7% increase over the prior year.
Activities with the largest profits were professional, scientific, and technology services. However, while profits for all Schedule C filers totaled $280.6 billion in 2007, this represented a slight decline (1.8%) compared with 2006.
A portion of earnings withheld by an employer or put into a retirement plan for distribution to the employee at a later date. If certain legal requirements are met, the deferred amount is not taxable until actually paid, for example, after retirement.