How to Fax Form 2553 to the IRS

Form 2553, Election by a Small Business Corporation, is how a corporation, or an LLC that is eligible, asks the IRS to treat it as an S corporation. The IRS takes the form by mail or by fax, and its instructions give a fax number for each of the two service centers that process it. This guide covers which number to use, when the form is due, who signs, and what to keep once it is sent.

It describes what the IRS publishes. Whether an S corporation election suits a business is a question for its own tax adviser.

Which IRS fax number to use

The office depends on where the corporation's principal business, office or agency is located, not on where its shareholders live.

Kansas City, MO: fax 855-887-7734

Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The mailing address for these states is Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Kansas City, MO 64999.

Ogden, UT: fax 855-214-7520

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

The mailing address for these states is Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Ogden, UT 84201.

The IRS notes that this filing information is subject to change. Before you send, compare it with the "Where to file your taxes for Form 2553" page on IRS.gov.

When the form is due

The instructions give two windows. Form 2553 can be filed:

• no more than 2 months and 15 days after the beginning of the tax year the election is to take effect, or
• at any time during the tax year before the one it is to take effect.

For a calendar-year corporation that wants S status from January 1, the first window closes on March 15 of that year.

If the date has passed

The IRS may still accept a late election under Revenue Procedure 2013-30. Among its conditions: the form is filed within 3 years and 75 days of the effective date entered on line E, the corporation has reasonable cause for filing late, and it acted diligently to correct the mistake once it found it. The top margin of page 1 must say "FILED PURSUANT TO REV. PROC. 2013-30", and the form carries a statement of the reasonable cause.

Who signs

Two kinds of signature are needed, and an unsigned form is not considered timely filed.

• An officer. The president, vice president, treasurer, assistant treasurer, chief accounting officer, or another corporate officer authorized to sign, signs and dates page 1.
• Every shareholder. Each one consents by signing and dating in column K, or on a separate consent statement attached to the form.

Form 2553 is not among the forms the IRS lists as accepting electronic signatures in its e-signature program (Internal Revenue Manual 10.10.1). Sign the paper in ink, then scan or photograph the signed pages for the fax.

Sending the fax

The instructions say to send the original election, not a photocopy, or to fax it. If you fax it, keep the signed original with the corporation's permanent records.

A few practical points:

• Send every page of the form in order, with any separate consent statements after it.
• Enter the corporation's true name as stated in its charter or other founding document, and its EIN. A corporation without an EIN must apply for one.
• Expect a busy signal now and then. These numbers receive many faxes, and a retry usually gets through.
• Keep the fax confirmation with the original form.

What happens next

The IRS says the corporation should generally receive a determination on its election within 60 days. If it has heard nothing within 2 months of the date the form was faxed or mailed, or within 5 months if box Q1 was checked, the instructions say to call 1-800-829-4933.

The CP261 notice

When the election is accepted, the IRS mails a CP261 notice. It confirms the election and states the date S status starts. The IRS asks you to keep it in your permanent records. If that date differs from the one you asked for, the IRS's explanation is usually that the form was not filed in time for the requested date. The corporation is also notified if its election is not accepted.

Proof that you filed

If the IRS later questions whether Form 2553 was filed, its instructions list what it accepts as proof:

• a certified or registered mail receipt, timely postmarked, from the U.S. Postal Service;
• Form 2553 with an accepted stamp;
• Form 2553 with a stamped IRS received date; or
• an IRS letter stating that Form 2553 has been accepted.

A fax confirmation is not on that list. Keep it anyway, as your record of when and where you sent the form, and keep the CP261 notice once it arrives. Our article on what a fax confirmation shows goes into the difference.

Having it prepared and faxed

If you would rather not work out the form and the office yourself, our Form 2553 service asks plain questions, checks the dates, fills in the official form and tells you which pages to sign. You sign in ink, upload photos of the signed pages, and we fax the form to the right IRS office and email you the transmission report.