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Election To Have a Tax Year Other Than a
Form 8716 OMB No. 1545-0123
(Rev. August 2021) Required Tax Year
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service ▶ Go to www.irs.gov/Form8716 for the latest information.
Name Employer identification number

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

1 Check applicable box to indicate type of entity. 2 Name and telephone number (including area code) of person who
Partnership may be called for information:
S corporation (or C corporation electing to
be an S corporation)
Personal service corporation (PSC)
3 Enter ending date of the tax year for the entity’s last filed return. A new entity should enter Month Day Year
the ending date of the tax year it is adopting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Month Day
4 Enter ending date of required tax year determined under section 441(i), 706(b), or 1378 . .
5 Section 444(a) Election. Check the applicable box and enter the ending date of the first tax Month Day Year
year for which the election will be effective that the entity is (see instructions):
Adopting Retaining Changing to
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.
▶ ▶
Signature and title (see instructions) Date

General Instructions Where To File
Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless File Form 8716 at the applicable IRS address shown below.
otherwise noted.
If the entity’s principal Use the following
Purpose of Form place of business or address
principal office or
Form 8716 is filed by partnerships, S corporations, and personal agency is located in
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
Connecticut, Delaware, District of
Form 8716 must be signed and filed by the earlier of: Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana,
Kentucky, Maine, Maryland,
1. The 15th day of the 5th month following the month that Massachusetts, Michigan, Department of the Treasury
includes the 1st day of the tax year the election will be effective, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Internal Revenue Service Center
or New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Kansas City, MO 64999
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South
2. The due date (not including extensions) of the income tax Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont,
return for the tax year resulting from the section 444 election. Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin
Items 1and relate2 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 Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas,
automatically granted a 12-month extension to make an election California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii,
on Form 8716. To obtain an extension, type or legibly print Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana,
“Filed Pursuant To Section 301.9100-2” at the top of Form Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Department of the Treasury
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Internal Revenue Service Center
8716, and file the form within 12 months of the original due date. New Mexico, North Dakota, Ogden, UT 84201
Oklahoma, Oregon,
South Dakota, Texas, Utah,
Washington, Wyoming

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)

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Form 8716 (Rev. 8-2021) Page 2

Also file a copy of Form 8716 with your income tax return for If a receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, or assignee controls the
the first tax year for which the election is made. To enable entity’s property or business, that person must sign the election.
electronic filing, you may file an unsigned Form 8716 containing
the same information as on the signed Form 8716 you filed Specific Instructions
separately.
Line 1
Effect of Section 444 Election
Check the applicable box to indicate whether the entity is
Partnerships and S corporations. An electing partnership or classified for federal income tax purposes as a partnership, an
S corporation must file Form 8752, Required Payment or Refund S corporation (or a C corporation electing to be an
Under Section 7519, for each year the election is in effect even S corporation), or a PSC.
if the required payment for the applicable election year is zero.
Form 8752 is used to figure and make the payment required A corporation electing to be an S corporation that wants to
under section 7519 or to obtain a refund of net prior year make a section 444 election is not required to attach a copy of
payments. File Form 8752 by May 15 following the calendar Form 8716 to its Form 2553, Election by a Small Business
year in which each applicable election year begins. Corporation. However, the corporation is required to state on
Form 2553 its intention to make a section 444 election (or a
The section 444 election will end if the partnership or backup section 444 election). If a corporation is making a
S corporation willfully fails to comply with the requirements of backup section 444 election (provided for in Part II, item Q, of
section 7519. Form 2553), it must type or print the words “Backup Election” at
Personal service corporations (PSCs). An electing PSC the top of the Form 8716 it files. See Temporary Regulations
should not file Form 8752. Instead, it must comply with the section 1.444-3T for more details.
minimum distribution requirements (see next paragraph) of
section 280H for each year the election is in effect. If the PSC Line 2
does not meet these requirements, the applicable amounts it Enter the name and telephone number (including the area code)
may deduct for payments made to its employee-owners may be of a person that the IRS may call for information needed to
limited. complete the processing of the election.
Use Schedule H (Form 1120), Section 280H Limitations for a
Personal Service Corporation (PSC), to figure the required Line 4
minimum distribution and the maximum deductible amount. Required tax year. The required tax year for an S corporation
Attach Schedule H to the income tax return of the PSC for each or PSC is a calendar year. Generally, the required tax year for a
tax year the PSC does not meet the minimum distribution partnership is the tax year of a majority of its partners (see
requirements. Regulations section 1.706-1(b) for details).
The section 444 election will end if the PSC is penalized for
willfully failing to comply with the requirements of section 280H. Line 5
The following limitations and special rules apply in determining
Members of Certain Tiered Structures May the tax year an entity may elect.
Not Make Election New entity adopting a tax year. An entity adopting a tax year
No election may be made under section 444(a) by an entity that may elect a tax year under section 444 only if the deferral period
is part of a tiered structure other than a tiered structure that of the tax year is not more than 3 months. See Deferral period,
consists entirely of partnerships and/or S corporations all of later.
which have the same tax year. An election previously made will Existing entity retaining a tax year. In certain cases, an entity
be terminated if an entity later becomes part of a tiered may elect to retain its tax year if the deferral period is not more
structure that is not allowed to make the election. See than 3 months. If the entity does not want to elect to retain its
Temporary Regulations section 1.444-2T for other details. tax year, it may elect to change its tax year as explained below.
Acceptance of Election Existing entity changing a tax year. An existing entity may
elect to change its tax year if the deferral period of the elected
After your election is received and accepted by the service tax year is not more than the shorter of 3 months or the deferral
center, the center will stamp it “Accepted” and return a copy to period of the tax year being changed. If the tax year being
you. Be sure to keep a copy of the form marked “Accepted” for changed is the entity’s required tax year, the deferral period for
your records. that year is zero and the entity is not permitted to make a
section 444 election.
End of Election
Example. ABC, a C corporation that historically used a tax
The election is made only once. It remains in effect until the year ending October 31, elects S status and wants to make a
entity changes its accounting period to its required tax year or section 444 election for its tax year beginning November 1.
some other permitted year or it is penalized for willfully failing to ABC’s required tax year under section 1378 is a calendar tax
comply with the requirements of section 280H or 7519. If the year. In this case, the deferral period of the tax year being
election is terminated, the entity may not make another section changed is 2 months. Thus, ABC may elect to retain its tax year
444 election. beginning November 1 and ending October 31 or elect a tax
Signature year beginning on December 1 (with a deferral period of 1
month). However, it may not elect a tax year beginning October
Form 8716 is not a valid election unless it is signed. For 1 because the 3-month deferral period would be longer than the
partnerships, a partner or a limited liability company member 2-month deferral period of the tax year being changed. If ABC
must sign and date the election. elects a tax year beginning on December 1, it must file a short
For corporations, the election must be signed and dated by tax year return beginning November 1 and ending November 30.
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.

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Form 8716 (Rev. 8-2021) Page 3

Deferral period.The term “deferral period” means the number You are not required to provide the information requested on
of months between the last day of the elected tax year and the a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless
last day of the required tax year. For example, if you elected a the form displays a valid OMB control number. Books or
tax year that ends on September 30 and your required tax year records relating to a form or its instructions must be retained as
is the calendar year, the deferral period would be 3 months (the long as their contents may become material in the
number of months between September 30 and December 31). administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax
returns and return information are confidential, as required by
section 6103.
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the information
on this form to carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the United The time needed to complete and file this form will vary
States. You are required to give us the information. We need it depending on individual circumstances. The estimated burden
to ensure that you are complying with these laws and to allow for business taxpayers filing this form is approved under OMB
us to figure and collect the right amount of tax. 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.

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