Instructions for Form 2553 |
2006 Tax Year |
This is archived information that pertains only to the 2006 Tax Year. If you are looking for information for the current tax year, go to the Tax Prep Help Area.
Enter the corporation's true name as stated in the corporate charter or other legal document creating it. If the corporation's
mailing address is
the same as someone else's, such as a shareholder's, enter “C/O” and this person's name following the name of the corporation. Include the suite,
room, or other unit number after the street address. If the Post Office does not deliver to the street address and the corporation
has a P.O. box,
show the box number instead of the street address. If the corporation changed its name or address after applying for its employer
identification
number, be sure to check the box in item D of Part I.
Item A. Employer Identification Number (EIN)
Enter the corporation's EIN. If the corporation does not have an EIN, it must apply for one. An EIN can be applied for:
-
Online-Click on the EIN link at www.irs.gov/businesses/small. The EIN is issued immediately once the application
information is validated.
-
By telephone at 1-800-829-4933 from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. in the corporation's local time zone.
-
By mailing or faxing Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number.
If the corporation has not received its EIN by the time the return is due, enter “Applied For” and the date you applied in the space for the
EIN. For more details, see the Instructions for Form SS-4.
Item E. Effective Date of Election
Form 2553 generally must be filed no later than 2 months and 15 days after the date entered for item E. For details and exceptions,
see When
To Make the Election on page 1.
A corporation (or entity eligible to elect to be treated as a corporation) making the election effective for its first tax
year in existence should
enter the earliest of the following dates: (a) the date the corporation (entity) first had shareholders (owners), (b) the
date the corporation
(entity) first had assets, or (c) the date the corporation (entity) began doing business. This same date will be entered for
item H.
A corporation (entity) not making the election for its first tax year in existence that is keeping its current tax year should
enter the beginning
date of the first tax year for which it wants the election to be effective.
A corporation (entity) not making the election for its first tax year in existence that is changing its tax year and wants
to be an S corporation
for the short tax year needed to switch tax years should enter the beginning date of the short tax year. If the corporation
(entity) does not want to
be an S corporation for this short tax year, it should enter the beginning date of the tax year following this short tax year
and file Form 1128,
Application To Adopt, Change, or Retain a Tax Year. If this change qualifies as an automatic approval request (Form 1128,
Part II), file Form 1128 as
an attachment to Form 2553. If this change qualifies as a ruling request (Form 1128, Part III), file Form 1128 separately.
If filing Form 1128, enter
“Form 1128” on the dotted line to the left of the entry space for item E.
Column K. Shareholders' Consent Statement
For an election filed before the effective date entered for item E, only shareholders who own stock on the day the election
is made need to consent
to the election.
For an election filed on or after the effective date entered for item E, all shareholders or former shareholders who owned
stock at any time during
the period beginning on the effective date entered for item E and ending on the day the election is made must consent to the
election.
If the corporation filed a timely election, but one or more shareholders did not file a timely consent, see Regulations section
1.1362-6(b)(3)(iii). If the shareholder was a community property spouse who was a shareholder solely because of a state community
property law, see
Rev. Proc. 2004-35, 2004-23 I.R.B. 1029.
Each shareholder consents by signing and dating either in column K or on a separate consent statement. The following special
rules apply in
determining who must sign.
-
If a husband and wife have a community interest in the stock or in the income from it, both must consent.
-
Each tenant in common, joint tenant, and tenant by the entirety must consent.
-
A minor's consent is made by the minor, legal representative of the minor, or a natural or adoptive parent of the minor if
no legal
representative has been appointed.
-
The consent of an estate is made by the executor or administrator.
-
The consent of an electing small business trust (ESBT) is made by the trustee and, if a grantor trust, the deemed owner. See
Regulations
section 1.1362-6(b)(2)(iv) for details.
-
If the stock is owned by a qualified subchapter S trust (QSST), the deemed owner of the trust must consent.
-
If the stock is owned by a trust (other than an ESBT or QSST), the person treated as the shareholder by section 1361(c)(2)(B)
must consent.
Continuation sheet or separate consent statement. If you need a continuation sheet or use a separate consent statement, attach it to
Form 2553. It must contain the name, address, and EIN of the corporation and the information requested in columns J through
N of Part I.
Enter the number of shares of stock each shareholder owns on the date the election is filed and the date(s) the stock was
acquired. Enter -0- for
any former shareholders listed in column J. An entity without stock, such as a limited liability company (LLC), should enter
the percentage of
ownership and date(s) acquired.
Enter the social security number of each individual listed in column J. Enter the EIN of each estate, qualified trust, or
exempt organization.
Enter the month and day that each shareholder's tax year ends. If a shareholder is changing his or her tax year, enter the
tax year the shareholder
is changing to, and attach an explanation indicating the present tax year and the basis for the change (for example, an automatic
revenue procedure or
a letter ruling request).
Form 2553 must be signed and dated by the president, vice president, treasurer, assistant treasurer, chief accounting officer,
or any other
corporate officer (such as tax officer) authorized to sign.
If Form 2553 is not signed, it will not be considered timely filed.
Complete Part II if you selected a tax year in Part I, Item I, ending on any date other than December 31 (other than a 52-53-week
tax year ending
with reference to the month of December).
Note.
Corporations cannot obtain automatic approval of a fiscal year under the natural business year (box P1) or ownership tax year
(box P2) provisions
if they are under examination, before an appeals (area) office, or before a federal court without meeting certain conditions
and attaching a statement
to the application. For details, see section 7.03 of Rev. Proc. 2006-46, 2006-45 I.R.B. 859.
A corporation that does not have a 47-month period of gross receipts cannot automatically establish a natural business year.
For examples of an acceptable business purpose for requesting a fiscal tax year, see section 5.02 of Rev. Proc. 2002-39, 2002-22
I.R.B. 1046, and
Rev. Rul. 87-57, 1987-2 C.B. 117.
Attach a statement showing the relevant facts and circumstances to establish a business purpose for the requested fiscal year.
For details on what
is sufficient to establish a business purpose, see section 5.02 of Rev. Proc. 2002-39.
If your business purpose is based on one of the natural business year tests provided in section 5.03 of Rev. Proc. 2002-39,
identify which test you
are using (the 25% gross receipts, annual business cycle, or seasonal business test). For the 25% gross receipts test, provide
a schedule showing the
amount of gross receipts for each month for the most recent 47 months. For either the annual business cycle or seasonal business
test, provide the
gross receipts from sales and services (and inventory costs, if applicable) for each month of the short period, if any, and
the three immediately
preceding tax years. If the corporation has been in existence for less than three tax years, submit figures for the period
of existence.
If you check box Q1, you will be charged a user fee of $1,500 (subject to change by Rev. Proc. 2008-1 or its successor). Do
not pay the fee when
filing Form 2553. The service center will send Form 2553 to the IRS in Washington, DC, who, in turn, will notify the corporation
that the fee is due.
If the corporation makes a back-up section 444 election for which it is qualified, then the section 444 election will take
effect in the event the
business purpose request is not approved. In some cases, the tax year requested under the back-up section 444 election may
be different than the tax
year requested under business purpose. See Form 8716, Election To Have a Tax Year Other Than a Required Tax Year, for details
on making a back-up
section 444 election.
If the corporation is not qualified to make the section 444 election after making the item Q2 back-up section 444 election
or indicating its
intention to make the election in item R1, and therefore it later files a calendar year return, it should write “Section 444 Election Not Made”
in the top left corner of the first calendar year Form 1120S it files.
In Part III, the income beneficiary (or legal representative) of certain qualified subchapter S trusts (QSSTs) may make the
QSST election required
by section 1361(d)(2). Part III may be used to make the QSST election only if corporate stock has been transferred to the
trust on or before the date
on which the corporation makes its election to be an S corporation. However, a statement can be used instead of Part III to
make the election. If
there was an inadvertent failure to timely file a QSST election, see the relief provisions under Rev. Proc. 2003-43.
Note.
Use Part III only if you make the election in Part I. Form 2553 cannot be filed with only Part III completed.
The deemed owner of the QSST must also consent to the S corporation election in column K of Form 2553.
Previous | Index | Next
2006 Instructions Main | 2006 Tax Help Archives | Tax Help Archives Main | Home
|
|
|