Form 2553 Mailing Address and Fax Number by State

The Form 2553 mailing address depends on your state: businesses in 27 western and southern states send the form to the IRS service center in Ogden, Utah, and businesses in the remaining 23 states plus the District of Columbia send it to Kansas City, Missouri. The IRS routes the election based on where your principal business office is physically located, not where you incorporated.¹

Ogden, Utah Service Center

If your principal business office is in any of the states listed below, mail Form 2553 to:

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Ogden, UT 84201

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.¹

Kansas City, Missouri Service Center

If your principal business office is in any of the following states or the District of Columbia, mail Form 2553 to:

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Kansas City, MO 64999

Connecticut, Delaware, 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.¹

Before mailing, check your state against the current IRS list. The agency has reassigned states between service centers in the past, and an outdated list can send your election to the wrong place.²

Operating State, Not Incorporation State

Many businesses incorporate in Delaware or Nevada for legal reasons but run their operations elsewhere. The IRS does not care where you incorporated. What matters is where you physically run the business. A company incorporated in Delaware but headquartered in Texas uses the Ogden address, not Kansas City. This is one of the more common filing errors on Form 2553, and it is entirely avoidable by checking the state where your office actually sits.

Fax Numbers by Service Center

The IRS accepts Form 2553 by fax, and many tax professionals prefer this route because it produces an immediate transmission confirmation with a timestamp. That confirmation serves as evidence of timely filing. Each service center has its own fax number:¹

Ogden center: 855-214-7520
Kansas City center: 855-887-7734

Use the fax number that matches the service center for your state, following the same state assignments listed above. If you fax the form, keep the original signed Form 2553 in your permanent records.³ The IRS instructions specify that mailed elections should be the original and not a photocopy, but faxing is authorized as an equal alternative. There is currently no option to e-file Form 2553 through IRS systems.

Proof of Delivery When Mailing

If you mail Form 2553 rather than fax it, you need documented proof of when you sent it. The IRS applies a “timely mailing as timely filing” rule, but that rule only works with specific delivery methods.⁴ Standard first-class mail does not give you proof of the date you mailed the form, so it offers no protection if the IRS later claims the election arrived late.

Use USPS Certified Mail or Registered Mail and request a return receipt. The postmark date on certified mail establishes when you filed. Alternatively, you can use an IRS-designated private delivery service. The IRS has approved specific service levels from three carriers:⁵

DHL Express: DHL Express 9:00, 10:30, 12:00, Worldwide, Envelope, and Import Express variations.
FedEx: First Overnight, Priority Overnight, Standard Overnight, 2 Day, and several international options.
UPS: Next Day Air Early A.M., Next Day Air, Next Day Air Saver, 2nd Day Air, 2nd Day Air A.M., and Worldwide Express options.

Only these designated services qualify. Other offerings from the same carriers, such as FedEx Ground or UPS SurePost, do not count. Keep the shipping receipt regardless of which method you use.

Deadline for Reaching the IRS

Sending Form 2553 to the correct address matters only if it arrives on time. The S corporation election must be filed no later than two months and 15 days after the beginning of the tax year you want it to take effect, or at any time during the preceding tax year.⁶ For a calendar-year corporation, that means the form must reach the IRS by March 15 to be effective for the current year.

The two-month calculation follows a specific rule: the period begins on the day of the month the tax year starts and ends the day before the same date two months later. For a corporation starting its first tax year on January 7, the two-month period ends March 6, and adding 15 days gives a deadline of March 21.⁷

An election filed after that window, but on or before the 15th day of the third month of the following tax year, is treated as an election for the next tax year instead.⁶ It is not rejected outright, but it takes effect a year later than intended. If you missed the deadline entirely, streamlined relief for late elections is available in certain circumstances under Revenue Procedure 2013-30.⁸

What Happens After You Send It

The IRS generally issues a determination on your election within 60 days of receiving Form 2553.⁷ If accepted, you will receive a CP261 Notice confirming your S corporation status and the effective date. Keep this notice in your permanent records.⁹

If you checked Box Q1 in Part II of the form, requesting a specific fiscal tax year, expect a longer wait. That request requires an IRS ruling letter, which adds roughly 90 days to the process.⁷

If you hear nothing within two months of filing, or five months when Box Q1 is checked, do not assume the election went through. Call the IRS Business and Specialty Tax line at 1-800-829-4933 to check the status. Silence from the IRS is not confirmation, and discovering a rejected election months later can create a messy tax situation.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Your Taxes (for Form 2553)
2
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 2553, Election by a Small Business Corporation
3
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2553
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7502 – Timely Mailing Treated as Timely Filing and Paying
5
Internal Revenue Service. Private Delivery Services (PDS)
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1362 – Election; Revocation; Termination
7
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2553
8
Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2013-30
9
Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP261 Notice