Federal Election To Have A Tax Year Other Than a Required Tax Year

Election To Have A Tax Year Other Than a Required Tax Year
Form 8716 (Rev. August 2021)
8716

Form
(Rev. August 2021)
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Name

Type or
Print

Election To Have a Tax Year Other Than a
Required Tax Year
▶ Go

OMB No. 1545-0123

to www.irs.gov/Form8716 for the latest information.
Employer identification number

Number, street, and room or suite no. (or P.O. box number if mail is not delivered to street address)
City or town, state, and ZIP code

1

3

Name and telephone number (including area code) of person who
2
Check applicable box to indicate type of entity.
may be called for information:
Partnership
S corporation (or C corporation electing to
be an S corporation)
Personal service corporation (PSC)
Month
Day
Year
Enter ending date of the tax year for the entity’s last filed return. A new entity should enter
the ending date of the tax year it is adopting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Month

4
5

Enter ending date of required tax year determined under section 441(i), 706(b), or 1378 . .
Section 444(a) Election. Check the applicable box and enter the ending date of the first tax
year for which the election will be effective that the entity is (see instructions):
Adopting
Retaining
Changing to

Month

Day
Day

Year

Under penalties of perjury, I declare that the entity named above has authorized me to make this election under section 444(a), and that the statements made are, to the
best of my knowledge and belief, true, correct, and complete.
▶

▶
Date

Signature and title (see instructions)

General Instructions

Where To File

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless
otherwise noted.

File Form 8716 at the applicable IRS address shown below.

Purpose of Form
Form 8716 is filed by partnerships, S corporations, and personal
service corporations (as defined in section 441(i)(2)) to elect
under section 444 to have a tax year other than a required tax
year.

When To File
Form 8716 must be signed and filed by the earlier of:
1. The 15th day of the 5th month following the month that
includes the 1st day of the tax year the election will be effective,
or
2. The due date (not including extensions) of the income tax
return for the tax year resulting from the section 444 election.

If the entity’s principal
place of business or
principal office or
agency is located in

▼

Use the following
address

▼

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, Wisconsin

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

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, Wyoming

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service Center
Ogden, UT 84201

Items 1 and 2 relate to the tax year, or the return for the tax
year, for which the ending date is entered on line 5 above.
Under Regulations section 301.9100-2, the entity is
automatically granted a 12-month extension to make an election
on Form 8716. To obtain an extension, type or legibly print
“Filed Pursuant To Section 301.9100-2” at the top of Form
8716, and file the form within 12 months of the original due date.

An entity without a principal office or agency or principal
place of business in the United States must file Form 8716 with
the Internal Revenue Service Center, P.O. Box 409101, Ogden,
UT 84409.
For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see instructions.

Cat. No. 64725S

Form 8716 (Rev. 8-2021)

Page 2

Form 8716 (Rev. 8-2021)

Also file a copy of Form 8716 with your income tax return for
the first tax year for which the election is made. To enable
electronic filing, you may file an unsigned Form 8716 containing
the same information as on the signed Form 8716 you filed
separately.

Effect of Section 444 Election
Partnerships and S corporations. An electing partnership or
S corporation must file Form 8752, Required Payment or Refund
Under Section 7519, for each year the election is in effect even
if the required payment for the applicable election year is zero.
Form 8752 is used to figure and make the payment required
under section 7519 or to obtain a refund of net prior year
payments. File Form 8752 by May 15 following the calendar
year in which each applicable election year begins.
The section 444 election will end if the partnership or
S corporation willfully fails to comply with the requirements of
section 7519.
Personal service corporations (PSCs). An electing PSC
should not file Form 8752. Instead, it must comply with the
minimum distribution requirements (see next paragraph) of
section 280H for each year the election is in effect. If the PSC
does not meet these requirements, the applicable amounts it
may deduct for payments made to its employee-owners may be
limited.

If a receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, or assignee controls the
entity’s property or business, that person must sign the election.

Specific Instructions
Line 1
Check the applicable box to indicate whether the entity is
classified for federal income tax purposes as a partnership, an
S corporation (or a C corporation electing to be an
S corporation), or a PSC.
A corporation electing to be an S corporation that wants to
make a section 444 election is not required to attach a copy of
Form 8716 to its Form 2553, Election by a Small Business
Corporation. However, the corporation is required to state on
Form 2553 its intention to make a section 444 election (or a
backup section 444 election). If a corporation is making a
backup section 444 election (provided for in Part II, item Q, of
Form 2553), it must type or print the words “Backup Election” at
the top of the Form 8716 it files. See Temporary Regulations
section 1.444-3T for more details.

Line 2
Enter the name and telephone number (including the area code)
of a person that the IRS may call for information needed to
complete the processing of the election.

Use Schedule H (Form 1120), Section 280H Limitations for a
Personal Service Corporation (PSC), to figure the required
minimum distribution and the maximum deductible amount.
Attach Schedule H to the income tax return of the PSC for each
tax year the PSC does not meet the minimum distribution
requirements.

Line 4

The section 444 election will end if the PSC is penalized for
willfully failing to comply with the requirements of section 280H.

Line 5

Members of Certain Tiered Structures May
Not Make Election

The following limitations and special rules apply in determining
the tax year an entity may elect.

No election may be made under section 444(a) by an entity that
is part of a tiered structure other than a tiered structure that
consists entirely of partnerships and/or S corporations all of
which have the same tax year. An election previously made will
be terminated if an entity later becomes part of a tiered
structure that is not allowed to make the election. See
Temporary Regulations section 1.444-2T for other details.

Acceptance of Election
After your election is received and accepted by the service
center, the center will stamp it “Accepted” and return a copy to
you. Be sure to keep a copy of the form marked “Accepted” for
your records.

End of Election
The election is made only once. It remains in effect until the
entity changes its accounting period to its required tax year or
some other permitted year or it is penalized for willfully failing to
comply with the requirements of section 280H or 7519. If the
election is terminated, the entity may not make another section
444 election.

Signature
Form 8716 is not a valid election unless it is signed. For
partnerships, a partner or a limited liability company member
must sign and date the election.
For corporations, the election 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 its tax return.

Required tax year. The required tax year for an S corporation
or PSC is a calendar year. Generally, the required tax year for a
partnership is the tax year of a majority of its partners (see
Regulations section 1.706-1(b) for details).

New entity adopting a tax year. An entity adopting a tax year
may elect a tax year under section 444 only if the deferral period
of the tax year is not more than 3 months. See Deferral period,
later.
Existing entity retaining a tax year. In certain cases, an entity
may elect to retain its tax year if the deferral period is not more
than 3 months. If the entity does not want to elect to retain its
tax year, it may elect to change its tax year as explained below.
Existing entity changing a tax year. An existing entity may
elect to change its tax year if the deferral period of the elected
tax year is not more than the shorter of 3 months or the deferral
period of the tax year being changed. If the tax year being
changed is the entity’s required tax year, the deferral period for
that year is zero and the entity is not permitted to make a
section 444 election.
Example. ABC, a C corporation that historically used a tax
year ending October 31, elects S status and wants to make a
section 444 election for its tax year beginning November 1.
ABC’s required tax year under section 1378 is a calendar tax
year. In this case, the deferral period of the tax year being
changed is 2 months. Thus, ABC may elect to retain its tax year
beginning November 1 and ending October 31 or elect a tax
year beginning on December 1 (with a deferral period of 1
month). However, it may not elect a tax year beginning October
1 because the 3-month deferral period would be longer than the
2-month deferral period of the tax year being changed. If ABC
elects a tax year beginning on December 1, it must file a short
tax year return beginning November 1 and ending November 30.

Form 8716 (Rev. 8-2021)

Deferral period. The term “deferral period” means the number
of months between the last day of the elected tax year and the
last day of the required tax year. For example, if you elected a
tax year that ends on September 30 and your required tax year
is the calendar year, the deferral period would be 3 months (the
number of months between September 30 and December 31).
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the information
on this form to carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the United
States. You are required to give us the information. We need it
to ensure that you are complying with these laws and to allow
us to figure and collect the right amount of tax.

Page 3

You are not required to provide the information requested on
a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless
the form displays a valid OMB control number. Books or
records relating to a form or its instructions must be retained as
long as their contents may become material in the
administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax
returns and return information are confidential, as required by
section 6103.
The time needed to complete and file this form will vary
depending on individual circumstances. The estimated burden
for business taxpayers filing this form is approved under OMB
control number 1545-0123 and is included in the estimates
shown in the instructions for their business income tax return.
If you have suggestions for making this form simpler, we
would be happy to hear from you. You can send us comments
from www.irs.gov/FormComments. Or you can write to the
Internal Revenue Service, Tax Forms and Publications, 1111
Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526, Washington, DC 20224.
Don’t send Form 8716 to this address. Instead, see Where To
File, earlier.