To get a copy of your S corp approval letter from the IRS, start by checking your IRS Business Tax Account online, then call the Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933 if it isn’t there, or have a CPA or enrolled agent request it through the Practitioner Priority Service. The letter you’re looking for is the CP261 Notice, the document the IRS sends to confirm it accepted your Form 2553 and approved the S corporation election. If the original can’t be reproduced, ask for a Letter 3852C, which affirms the same information and is accepted by banks and lenders as proof of your federal tax classification.1Internal Revenue Service. IRM Procedural Update wi-03-0523-0627
Check Your Business Tax Account Online First
The IRS Business Tax Account is available to S corporations that file Form 1120-S, and a Designated Official with full access can view certain IRS notices and letters through the portal.2Internal Revenue Service. Business Tax Account The IRS doesn’t publish a list of which notices show up there, so your CP261 may or may not appear depending on when it was issued and how your account is configured. If it’s there, you can read it on screen and download it in minutes. If it isn’t, move on to the phone.
What to Have Ready Before You Call
The IRS will run you through a security check before discussing anything about the business account. Have this information in front of you:
- The Employer Identification Number assigned when you formed the entity.3Internal Revenue Service. About Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- The exact legal name of the corporation as it appears on your formation documents and original filings.
- The business address currently on file with the IRS. If you moved and never updated it, the agent may not be able to verify you.
- The approximate date Form 2553 was filed, which helps the agent locate the election.
Only someone authorized to act for the corporation can make the request. For Form 8821 purposes, that means an officer with authority to bind the corporation, a person designated by the board, or an officer or employee authorized in writing by a principal officer.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8821 (09/2021) – Section: Line 6. Signature of Taxpayer In practice this is usually the president, treasurer, or another officer listed on the formation paperwork. Be ready to state your title.
Call the Business and Specialty Tax Line
The number is 800-829-4933. The line is open Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time, with Alaska and Hawaii following Pacific time.5Internal Revenue Service. Telephone Assistance Contacts for Business Customers – Section: Business and Specialty Tax Line and EIN Assignment (800-829-4933) When the automated system picks up, choose the options for business tax accounts and then entity-related questions to reach a live agent. Hold times run long during tax season, so call early in the day if you can.
Once the agent verifies your identity, they can send the approval documentation two ways. Fax is fastest if you have access to a private fax machine. Otherwise, the IRS mails a copy to your address of record, which usually takes a couple of weeks. Build that timeline into any deadline from a lender or bank.
Ask for Letter 3852C if the CP261 Can’t Be Reproduced
For elections filed many years ago, the IRS sometimes can’t pull the original CP261. In that case, ask the agent by name for a Letter 3852C. It’s an official affirmation letter confirming the effective date of your S corporation election.1Internal Revenue Service. IRM Procedural Update wi-03-0523-0627 It doesn’t look identical to the CP261, but it carries the same weight.
Banks, lenders, and merchant service providers accept Letter 3852C as valid proof of your federal tax classification. If a third party insists on the “original” CP261, explain that the 3852C comes directly from the IRS and confirms the same information. That resolves the issue almost every time. Not every agent will offer the 3852C on their own, so ask for it specifically.
Have a Tax Professional Request It
If you’d rather not sit on hold, a CPA or enrolled agent can handle the whole thing. Before they can access your account, the IRS needs a signed authorization on file. Form 2848 (Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative) lets them represent you; Form 8821 (Tax Information Authorization) lets them view and receive information without representing you.6Internal Revenue Service. Power of Attorney and Other Authorizations Either form works for retrieving the S corp approval letter.
The authorization has to be recorded in the IRS Centralized Authorization File (CAF) before your professional can do anything.6Internal Revenue Service. Power of Attorney and Other Authorizations Timing matters here. The IRS Tax Pro Account processes individual authorizations in real time, but business authorizations submitted through the online upload system are processed manually on a first-in, first-out basis alongside faxed and mailed requests.7Internal Revenue Service. Tax Pro Account Business authorizations can take several weeks to clear, so submit Form 2848 or 8821 well before you actually need the document.
Once the authorization is on file, your professional calls the Practitioner Priority Service at 866-860-4259, Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time.8Internal Revenue Service. Telephone Assistance Contacts for Business Customers – Section: Practitioner Priority Service The line is reserved for tax professionals with valid authorizations and generally has shorter waits than the general business line.9Internal Revenue Service. Practitioner Priority Service They can request the CP261 or Letter 3852C and have it faxed or mailed directly.
If the IRS Has No Record of Your Election
Sometimes the call ends with the agent saying there’s no S corporation election on file for your entity. Maybe the original Form 2553 was lost in the mail, or an accountant intended to file it and never did. The fix depends on how long ago the election was supposed to take effect.
The IRS offers simplified late-election relief under Revenue Procedure 2013-30. To qualify, the entity must have intended to be classified as an S corporation, the only reason it didn’t qualify was the untimely filing of Form 2553, and the business must have reasonable cause for the failure and have acted diligently to correct it once discovered.10Internal Revenue Service. Late Election Relief All shareholders must have reported their income consistently with S corporation treatment for every year since the intended effective date.
The window is three years and 75 days from the intended effective date. To make the request, file a completed Form 2553 with “FILED PURSUANT TO REV. PROC. 2013-30” written across the top, along with a signed reasonable-cause statement and declarations from all shareholders confirming their consistent reporting.11Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2013-30 – Section: 5.01 You can attach it to the current year’s Form 1120-S, file it with a late prior-year return, or send it directly to the applicable IRS Service Center. Past that window, relief may still be available through a private letter ruling under IRC Section 1362(f), but that route is slower, more expensive, and less certain.10Internal Revenue Service. Late Election Relief
Keep the Letter Where You Can Find It
The CP261 itself tells you to keep it in your permanent records.12Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP261 Notice Scan it and store a digital copy with your articles of incorporation, EIN confirmation, and other formation documents. Banks and lenders ask for it more often than most owners expect.
One boundary worth flagging: a handful of states require a separate state-level S corporation election in addition to the federal Form 2553. Most states automatically recognize the federal election, and some of those still want a copy of your CP261 or federal acceptance letter attached to your first state return. Check your state’s rules when you first elect, and keep the original somewhere you can actually find it.