File IRS Form 2553 for S-Corporation tax status
Request s-corp tax election and we'll walk you through it step by step.
Form 2553 elects S-Corporation tax treatment for an existing LLC or corporation. It doesn't change your entity — the company stays what it is at the state level — but it changes how the IRS taxes its profit and how owner-employees have to be paid.
The mechanic that saves money is the split between salary and distribution. Owners who actively work in the business must take a reasonable W-2 salary subject to payroll tax; remaining profit passes through without self-employment tax. That's only worth doing when profit clears a defensible salary by enough to outweigh payroll processing and additional tax filings.
Timing is strict. The election is generally due within two months and fifteen days of the start of the tax year it should apply to, with relief available for late filings in defined circumstances. We check your entity's dates against the window before filing.
Yes. The LLC remains an LLC with the state and is simply taxed as an S-Corporation federally.
A reasonable one for the work you actually do, benchmarked to your role, industry, and region. Underpaying to shrink payroll tax is a known audit trigger.
Most do, but some impose their own entity-level taxes or require a separate state election, so the federal savings don't always carry over cleanly.
Late-election relief exists for filers who meet specific conditions, including having intended the election and having a reasonable cause for the delay.