To check your S corp status, start with your own corporate records for IRS Notice CP261 (the acceptance letter for your S election), then confirm with the IRS directly by pulling an entity transcript online, by mail with Form 4506-T, or by calling the Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933. The transcript shows how the IRS has your business classified and what returns it expects you to file. Because federal status does not automatically carry over everywhere, you also need to verify how your state tax agency treats the election.
Look Through Your Own Records First
The single most conclusive document is IRS Notice CP261. This is the letter the IRS mails after approving Form 2553 (Election by a Small Business Corporation), and it instructs you to keep it permanently.1Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP261 Notice If you have that letter in your files, your election was approved as of the effective date printed on it.
No CP261? Two other documents give strong secondary evidence. First, check whether Form 1120-S (the S corporation income tax return) has been filed each year. Consistent 1120-S filings indicate the IRS is treating the business as an S corp.1Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP261 Notice Second, look for your signed copy of Form 2553 itself, which should carry every shareholder’s signature. If none of these three exist, there is a real chance the election was never filed, and the next step is confirming that directly with the IRS.
Pull an Entity Transcript From the IRS
An entity transcript is the IRS record showing your EIN, filing requirements, and business classification. It will tell you plainly whether the IRS has you coded as an S corporation. This is the quickest way to a documented answer.2Internal Revenue Service. Get a Business Tax Transcript
There are three ways to get one.
Online Through the Business Tax Account
Log into the IRS Business Tax Account at irs.gov. A designated official of the corporation, meaning an officer such as the president, CFO, or secretary, can view and download transcripts directly. The portal is available for both S corporation (Form 1120-S) and C corporation (Form 1120) filers, so getting into your account under the S corporation category is itself a confirmation of how the IRS classifies you. Individual shareholders with a Schedule K-1 on file get more limited access, including the ability to view transcripts for tax years 2006 through 2023.3Internal Revenue Service. Business Tax Account
By Mail With Form 4506-T
Submit Form 4506-T (Request for Transcript of Tax Return) to the IRS. Processing takes several weeks, so this route works when you are not under a filing deadline.2Internal Revenue Service. Get a Business Tax Transcript
By Phone
Call the Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time. An agent can look up the entity transcript and confirm your classification verbally or arrange to mail a copy.4Internal Revenue Service. Telephone Assistance Contacts for Business Customers
What You Need Ready Before You Call or Log In
The IRS runs callers and account users through identity verification before releasing any information. Have the following ready.
- Your Employer Identification Number (EIN), the nine-digit number assigned when the business was formed. If it has been lost, check old bank statements, prior tax returns, or the original EIN confirmation notice (CP 575).
- The legal business name exactly as it appears on IRS records, not a DBA or trade name.
- The business address on file. If you moved and did not submit Form 8822-B, the address on record may still be the old one.1Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP261 Notice
- Your most recently filed income tax return. The agent may ask about this to confirm identity.5Internal Revenue Service. Manage Access in Business Tax Account
- The name of an authorized officer. Only a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, or similar officer can access the account.
If any of these details do not match what the IRS has on file, the agent will not release information. Getting turned away over an outdated address is one of the most common frustrations. If you suspect a mismatch, update your records with the IRS before you call.
Check Your State Separately
Federal S corp status does not guarantee the same treatment in your state. Most states automatically follow the federal election, so once the IRS accepts Form 2553 the state recognizes the pass-through treatment too. A small number of states require a separate state-level S election filed with the state tax agency. If you operate in one of those states and never filed the state form, you can be taxed as a C corporation at the state level even though the IRS treats you as an S corp.6Internal Revenue Service. S Corporations
A few other states recognize the federal election only if nonresident shareholders sign a consent agreement to pay state income tax on their share of the corporation’s in-state income. States without a personal or corporate income tax sidestep the question entirely.
To verify state status, contact your state’s department of revenue. Ask three things: whether the state follows the federal election automatically, whether a separate state election was ever required, and whether any state-specific S corporation franchise tax or annual fee applies. Annual fees vary widely by state. Missing a required state filing can also cost you good standing with the secretary of state, which is a separate issue from tax classification but compounds quickly.
If You Discover the Election Was Never Filed
If the transcript shows no S election on record, you have two paths depending on timing. For an existing business switching from C corp to S corp, Form 2553 must be filed no later than two months and 15 days into the tax year you want the election to take effect. For calendar-year corporations, that deadline is March 15. The election can also be filed at any time during the preceding tax year.7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2553 Form 2553 must be filed by mail or fax; the IRS does not accept electronic submissions.8Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Your Taxes for Form 2553 After filing, the IRS typically sends Notice CP261 within about 60 days.
Missing the deadline is not fatal. Revenue Procedure 2013-30 allows a late election if the business intended S treatment as of the desired effective date, the request is made within three years and 75 days of that date, the only qualification problem was the missed filing, and the business had reasonable cause and moved quickly to fix it once discovered. To request the relief, file Form 2553 with “FILED PURSUANT TO REV. PROC. 2013-30” written at the top, attach a signed reasonable-cause statement, and have every shareholder from the intended effective date forward confirm they reported income consistently with S treatment for the affected years.9Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2013-30 – Relief for Late S Corporation Elections
Confirm the Election Is Still Alive
A past CP261 is not proof of current status. S corporation treatment can end two ways, and one of them can happen without anyone at the company realizing it.
Voluntary revocation requires a statement signed by shareholders holding more than half the outstanding shares. Filed on or before the 15th day of the third month of the tax year, it applies that year; filed later, it applies the following year. The IRS confirms revocation with Notice CP262.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1362 – Election; Revocation; Termination11Internal Revenue Service. Notice CP262
Automatic termination is the silent one. The election ends on the date the corporation stops meeting any eligibility requirement under Section 1361(b).12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 1361 – S Corporation Defined Common triggers:
- Exceeding 100 shareholders at any point during the year. Family members can elect to be treated as one shareholder, and spouses automatically count as one.
- Transferring stock to an ineligible shareholder, such as another corporation, a partnership, or a nonresident alien.
- Creating a second class of stock through unequal distribution or liquidation rights. Different voting rights are permitted; different economic rights are not.
- Becoming an ineligible corporation type, such as an insurance company or certain financial institutions.
There is also a passive-income trap. If the S corporation carries over earnings and profits from a prior C corporation period and takes in more than 25 percent of gross receipts from passive investment income for three consecutive years, the election terminates automatically.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1362 – Election; Revocation; Termination Companies can go years without an issue until the accumulated C corp earnings and the three-year streak line up.
If you discover the election terminated because of a disqualifying event you did not intend, Section 1362(f) gives the IRS authority to treat the termination as if it never happened. You have to show the termination was inadvertent, that you took corrective steps within a reasonable time after finding out, and that the corporation and affected shareholders will accept any adjustments the IRS requires.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 1361 – S Corporation Defined The relief requires a private letter ruling request, which carries a user fee and takes months, but it is worth pursuing when the alternative is retroactive C corporation taxation across several years.
When you pull the entity transcript, read it against these rules. A clean transcript today, combined with a CP261 in the files and a state agency that confirms the same treatment, is the full answer.