Reference

    Late S Corp Election Relief for Form 2553

    To elect S corporation status for a given tax year, the IRS normally requires Form 2553 no more than 2 months and 15 days after that tax year begins. Miss the window and the election rolls to the following year, unless you qualify for relief under Revenue Procedure 2013-30. Whether relief applies depends on eligibility, consistent returns, reasonable cause, and when the request is filed.

    Pricing before you proceed

    S corp election packages start at $495. Standard and Premium include late relief at no additional charge. Basic late-relief work is scoped and quoted before you are charged.

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    Can You Elect S Corp Status Retroactively?

    The short answer: yes, if you qualify for late-election relief

    A business can request an S corp election with a retroactive effective date when the election would otherwise have been valid and the late filing meets Revenue Procedure 2013-30. Generally, the missed Form 2553 must be the only reason the entity failed to qualify, the entity must have reasonable cause and act diligently after discovering the mistake, affected returns must be consistent with S corp treatment, and the request must be made within 3 years and 75 days of the requested effective date.

    This is relief for a late election, not permission to backdate an entity that was ineligible. Missing shareholder consent, using an ineligible shareholder, or filing inconsistent returns can change the answer. Certain corporations may qualify for a narrow exception beyond the ordinary 3-year-and-75-day period, but that exception does not apply to an LLC that also needs a late entity-classification election.

    Source: IRS late election relief guidance, reviewed August 8, 2026.

    The real deadline, and why it is not 75 days

    Almost everything written about Form 2553 online calls this the 75 day rule. The IRS does not. The instructions give you two ways to be on time, and you only need one of them: file no more than 2 months and 15 days after the beginning of the tax year the election is to take effect, or file at any time during the entire tax year before the one it takes effect.

    The difference matters because the two month period is counted in calendar months, not in days. It begins on the day of the month your tax year begins and ends the day before the same numbered day two months later. Then you add 15 days. For a calendar year business starting January 1, that lands on March 15. Count 75 actual days from January 1 and you get March 16, and in the IRS example of a business that starts on January 7 the true deadline is March 21 while a 75 day count says March 22. One day late is late.

    If your business already existed last year

    You get the second option, and it is much more generous than the one everybody quotes. An existing entity can file Form 2553 at any point during the whole preceding tax year right through to March 15 of the election year. If you are reading this in, say, August and thinking about next January, you can file now.

    If your business is brand new, you can file too early

    This one catches people. A brand new entity has no preceding tax year, so its window opens on the first day of its first tax year. The IRS is explicit that an election filed before that date is not valid. Your first tax year begins on the earliest of three events: the day you first had shareholders, the day you first had assets, or the day you began doing business. Not the day the state stamped your formation papers, and not the day you decided to start.

    Source: IRS Instructions for Form 2553 (rev. December 2020), When To Make the Election and Item E. Effective Date of Election. See also section 1362(b).

    Missed it? Rev. Proc. 2013-30 is the way back

    Revenue Procedure 2013-30 lets the IRS grant late election relief without a private letter ruling, which would otherwise cost thousands in user fees. The ordinary window is three years and 75 days from the effective date you are asking for, and here the 75 days genuinely is 75 days. Relief is granted routinely when the conditions are met, but it is not automatic and it is not a formality: it turns on a written reasonable cause explanation that has to hold up.

    One mechanical requirement people miss and the IRS does not overlook: the words FILED PURSUANT TO REV. PROC. 2013-30 must be written across the top margin of page one of the Form 2553. If the late election goes in attached to a Form 1120-S, that return needs its own margin note as well.

    Who qualifies

    • The business intended to be an S corporation as of the effective date entered on line E.
    • It fails to qualify solely because Form 2553 was not filed on time. Any other disqualifier, an ineligible shareholder for example, is a different problem.
    • There is reasonable cause for the late filing, and the business acted diligently once it discovered the mistake.
    • The filing lands within 3 years and 75 days of the requested effective date.
    • Everyone who was a shareholder in the gap period reported their income consistently with the S election on every affected return.

    Past three years and 75 days? Do not assume you are finished

    Passing three years and 75 days does not always end the relief route. A corporation that otherwise meets the IRS requirements may qualify for a narrow exception if it and every shareholder consistently reported S corporation treatment for the first intended year and every year after, at least six months have passed since the first intended S corporation return was filed, and neither received IRS notification of a problem with S corporation status within six months after that first Form 1120-S was timely filed. All other applicable requirements and required statements still apply.

    An LLC may also need late classification relief

    If an LLC also needs a late election to be treated as a corporation, that combined relief route must meet the three year and 75 day limit. An LLC already classified as a corporation for federal tax purposes needs a separate review of the corporation relief requirements; its LLC legal form alone does not settle eligibility. If simplified relief is unavailable, a private letter ruling may be required. We check classification, filing history and timing before recommending a route.

    Source: IRS Instructions for Form 2553 (rev. December 2020), Relief for a Late S Corporation Election Filed by a Corporation, requirement 6, and Relief for a Late S Corporation Election Filed By an Entity Eligible To Elect To Be Treated as a Corporation, requirement 3.

    Prove you filed, because the IRS loses things

    You should hear back within about 60 days of filing. If nothing arrives within two months of the date you mailed or faxed it, the instructions tell you to call 1-800-829-4933 and chase it. Keep one of these four, because they are what the IRS accepts as proof you filed: a certified or registered mail receipt with a timely postmark, a Form 2553 with an accepted stamp, a Form 2553 with a stamped IRS received date, or an IRS letter confirming acceptance.

    And do not file a Form 1120-S for any year before the election actually takes effect. Keep filing whatever return you are currently required to file until it does.

    How we file it for you

    ScorpConvert handles the entire late-election package: the Form 2553 itself, the Rev. Proc. 2013-30 reasonable-cause statement (we write the narrative for you), the shareholder consents, and the IRS transmission. Standard and Premium tiers include late relief at no extra charge. Basic-tier clients can add it too: we scope the reasonable-cause narrative first and quote it before anything is charged.

    Missed the deadline? You might still qualify. Let us check.

    Standard includes late-election relief for $895.

    Basic late-relief work is scoped and quoted separately before you are charged.

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