S corp filingThe letter comes before the count.

Form 2553 is the election. What came back, the acceptance letter, is the gate we actually trust. We treat that letter as the gate. Without it, the annual count of acknowledgment, K-1, and wage forms does not start, because those papers belong to a year that is being filed as an S corporation year.

A company can still have a filing duty when the letter is missing. A different return may be due. We will not print the name of that other return here. The right form depends on the entity and on whether an election was ever accepted. Say the letter is missing, and we will say what we need to see next.

The election has a window. It can be sent during the year before it should take effect, or during a short stretch after the year it should cover has begun. That stretch is a little longer than two months. We do not print one date and pretend it fits every company. A company that started in June does not share a calendar with a company that has been open for a decade.

People sometimes keep a copy of what they mailed and treat the copy as the answer. The copy shows what left. The letter shows what was accepted. We want the letter. A screenshot of a software menu that says the election was prepared is a third thing, and it is weaker than both.

Once the letter is real, the rest of this address has a job. The acknowledgment, the K-1s, and the wage forms can be counted. Before the letter, counting those papers would describe a year we are not yet allowed to call an S corporation year.

If the letter is in a drawer, bring that letter. If it is not, bring the day you believe Form 2553 went out and the year you believe it was meant to cover. We will not invent an acceptance from those two facts. We will tell you the count is paused.

A late election is a different conversation, and it needs its own facts. This page does not walk that path. It only says the ordinary count waits for an ordinary letter.

The same phone reaches the practice that publishes these pages. The letter and the closed months can share the same phone call. Payroll work here is the handoff to a provider you already run. Payday stays with that provider.