# How to file Form 2553 for an LLC

Source: https://joinopenfile.com/guides/how-to-file-form-2553
Index: https://joinopenfile.com/llms.txt

Form 2553 is the one-page IRS election that has your LLC taxed as an S corporation. You enter the company's name, EIN, the date the election should start and the tax year, every owner signs the consent column, and an authorized officer signs the form. Then you fax or mail it to the IRS service center for your state, and the instructions say you should generally get a determination within 60 days.Updated November 1, 2026

## Before you fill it in

Item A wants the LLC's EIN. If the company doesn't have one, the instructions say it must apply for one, and the IRS issues an EIN immediately online once the application information is validated. [How to get an EIN](https://joinopenfile.com/guides/how-to-get-an-ein) covers that. If the EIN hasn't arrived by the time the return is due, you enter "Applied For" and the date you applied in the space for it.

An LLC doesn't file Form 8832 first. The instructions say an entity eligible to elect to be treated as a corporation that meets the tests is treated as a corporation as of the effective date of the S corporation election, so Form 2553 does both jobs. Check the company qualifies before you spend time on the form. [LLC or S corp](https://joinopenfile.com/guides/llc-vs-s-corp) goes through the limits, and the short version is a domestic company, no more than 100 shareholders, one class of stock, and no partnership, corporation or non-resident alien owners.

## Part I, item by item

The top block takes the company's true name as stated in the document that created it, and its address. Check the box in item D if the name or address changed after you applied for the EIN.

Items B and C ask for the date and state of incorporation, which for an LLC are the date and state on its [articles of organization](https://joinopenfile.com/guides/articles-of-organization).

Item E is the date the election takes effect, and the deadline is counted from it. A company making the election for its first tax year in existence enters the earliest of three dates: the date it first had owners, the date it first had assets, or the date it began doing business. The form cautions that a company in its first tax year will usually enter the start of a short tax year beginning on a date other than January 1. A company that isn't in its first tax year and is keeping its current tax year enters the first day of the tax year it wants the election to apply to.

Item F is the tax year. Box 1 is a calendar year, which is what most LLCs use. If you check box 2 for a fiscal year or box 4 for a 52-53-week year, you also have to complete Part II.

Item G is a box you check only if more than 100 owners are listed and treating members of a family as one shareholder brings the count to 100 or fewer. Item H is the name and title of the officer or legal representative the IRS may call. Item I is where you explain reasonable cause for a late election.

## Who signs, and the consent columns

Form 2553 needs two sets of signatures, and both are required. The form itself must be signed and dated by the president, vice president, treasurer, assistant treasurer, chief accounting officer, or any other corporate officer authorized to sign. An LLC has no officers by default, so the person who signs is whoever your [operating agreement](https://joinopenfile.com/guides/operating-agreement) authorizes to sign for the company. The instructions are blunt about this: if Form 2553 isn't signed, it won't be considered timely filed.

Then every owner consents in Part I. Column J takes each owner's name and address. Column K is the consent statement each one signs and dates. Column L is the number of shares and the dates acquired, and the instructions say an entity without stock, such as an LLC, enters the percentage of ownership and the dates acquired instead. Column M is each individual's Social Security number, or the EIN of an estate, qualified trust or exempt organization. Column N is the month and day each owner's tax year ends.

If a husband and wife have a community interest in the stock or in the income from it, both have to consent. So does each tenant in common, joint tenant and tenant by the entirety. A minor's consent is given by the minor, the minor's legal representative, or a parent if no legal representative has been appointed.

## The deadline

File Form 2553 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 that one. The 2-month period starts on the day of the month the tax year begins and ends with the close of the day before the numerically corresponding day of the second calendar month after it.

The instructions work it through. A calendar-year company that has already filed as something else and wants the election for its next tax year beginning January 1 can file at any time during that prior year and no later than March 15 of the year the election should start. A company in its first tax year counts from the day that year began: one starting January 7 has until March 21, and one starting November 8 has until January 22.

## Where to send it

Fax or mail, to one of two service centers. Send the original election, not a photocopy, and if you fax it, keep the original with the company's permanent records.

Connecticut, Delaware, the 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 go to the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Kansas City, MO 64999, or fax 855-887-7734.

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 go to the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Ogden, UT 84201, or fax 855-214-7520.

The IRS says this filing information is subject to change and keeps the current list on its own where-to-file page for Form 2553, so check it the day you send yours. The instructions set no fee for the form. The only fee in them is the user fee for a private letter ruling, which comes up only if you miss the deadline and don't meet the requirements for late relief.

## What happens after you file

The service center writes to tell you whether the election was accepted and when it takes effect. The instructions say you should generally get that determination within 60 days of filing, and about 90 days longer if you checked box Q1 in Part II, because that gets a ruling letter on the tax year. If you've heard nothing 2 months after the date you faxed or mailed it, or 5 months with box Q1 checked, the instructions tell you to call 800-829-4933.

Keep proof. The instructions accept a certified or registered mail receipt with a timely postmark, or its equivalent from a designated private delivery service, a Form 2553 with an accepted stamp, a Form 2553 with a stamped IRS received date, or an IRS letter saying the form was accepted.

Don't file Form 1120-S for any tax year before the year the election takes effect. Carry on filing whatever return you file now until it does. Once the election is made it stays in effect until it's terminated or revoked, and after that the IRS generally has to consent to another election before the 5th tax year following the one in which the termination or revocation took effect.

## If you missed the deadline

There is relief under Revenue Procedure 2013-30, and it is used constantly. The company has to have intended to be an S corporation from the date on line E, have failed to qualify on that date only because the form wasn't filed in time, have reasonable cause for being late, have acted diligently once it found out, and file Form 2553 within 3 years and 75 days of the date on line E. Every owner for the period between that date and the filing date also has to confirm they reported their income consistently with the election, which signing column K does.

Write "FILED PURSUANT TO REV. PROC. 2013-30" in the top margin of the first page. You can file it on its own, or attach it to the current Form 1120-S if all earlier ones have been filed, and then the same top margin of the 1120-S gets "INCLUDES LATE ELECTION(S) FILED PURSUANT TO REV. PROC. 2013-30."

A company that can't meet those requirements generally has to request a private letter ruling and pay the user fee for it. That is expensive enough that it's worth asking an accountant before you go that way.

## Your state may want its own election

The federal election changes nothing on your state formation record. The LLC stays an LLC, with the same members and the same [state reports](https://joinopenfile.com/annual-report) as before.

State income tax is the part to check. New York doesn't follow the federal election on its own: a federal S corporation elects to be taxed as a New York S corporation on Form CT-6, filed at any time during the preceding tax year or on or before the fifteenth day of the third month of the tax year the election applies to, and then files Form CT-3-S within 2 and a half months after the end of each tax year. Other states handle it their own way, so ask your state's tax agency what it does with an S election before you file the federal one.

## Questions

Can I file Form 2553 online?

No. The form says you can fax it to the IRS, and the instructions tell you to send the original election, not a photocopy, or fax it to the service center for your state. There is no online submission for it.

Is there a fee to file Form 2553?

The instructions set no filing fee for it. The only fee they mention is the user fee for a private letter ruling, which you would need only if you missed the deadline and can't meet the requirements for late relief under Revenue Procedure 2013-30.

Who signs Form 2553 for an LLC?

Two sets of signatures. An officer authorized to sign signs the form itself, and every owner signs the consent in column K of Part I. The instructions say an unsigned Form 2553 isn't considered timely filed.

Do I need to file Form 8832 before Form 2553?

No. The instructions say an entity eligible to elect to be treated as a corporation that meets the tests is treated as a corporation as of the effective date of the S corporation election, so an LLC files Form 2553 on its own.

What date do I put in item E of Form 2553?

The date the election takes effect. A company making the election for its first tax year enters the earliest of the date it first had owners, the date it first had assets, or the date it began doing business. Otherwise enter the first day of the tax year you want the election to apply to.

How long does the IRS take to accept Form 2553?

The instructions say you should generally get a determination within 60 days of filing, and about 90 days longer if box Q1 in Part II is checked. If you've heard nothing after 2 months, or 5 months with box Q1 checked, they tell you to call 800-829-4933.

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## Sources

- [IRS: Instructions for Form 2553](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i2553)
- [IRS: Form 2553, Election by a Small Business Corporation](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f2553.pdf)
- [IRS: Where to file your taxes for Form 2553](https://www.irs.gov/filing/where-to-file-your-taxes-for-form-2553)
- [IRS: S corporations](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/s-corporations)
- [IRS: Revenue Procedure 2013-30](https://www.irs.gov/irb/2013-36_IRB#RP-2013-30)
- [New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: Instructions for Form CT-6](https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/current_forms/ct/ct6i.pdf)

## Keep reading

- [LLC or S corp?](https://joinopenfile.com/guides/llc-vs-s-corp)
- [How to get an EIN for your business](https://joinopenfile.com/guides/how-to-get-an-ein)
- [What is an LLC?](https://joinopenfile.com/guides/what-is-an-llc)