S Corporations
S corporations are corporations that elect to pass corporate income, losses, deductions and credit through to their shareholders for federal tax purposes. Shareholders of S corporations report the flow-through of income and losses on their personal tax returns and are assessed tax at their individual income tax rates. This allows S corporations to avoid double taxation on the corporate income. S corporations are responsible for tax on certain built-in gains and passive income.
To qualify for S corporation status, the corporation must meet the following requirements:
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Be a domestic corporation
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Have only allowable shareholders
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including individuals, certain trust, and estates and
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may not include partnerships, corporations or non-resident alien shareholders
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Have no more than 100 shareholders
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Have one class of stock
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Not be an ineligible corporation i.e. certain financial institutions, insurance companies, and domestic international sales corporations.
In order to become an S corporation, the corporation must submit Form 2553 Election by a Small Business Corporation signed by all the shareholders.
Because the IRS processes the first return it receives, if another person claims your dependent first, the IRS will reject your return. The IRS won’t tell you who claimed your dependent. But if you don’t suspect anyone who could have claimed the dependent, your dependent may be a victim of tax identity theft. You’ll need to take some steps to protect your right to claim the dependent and your refund if you don’t think that the other person was eligible to claim your dependent. First, double check that you meet all of the requirements to claim the dependent.
The IRS may delay your refund while the IRS looks into the issue, but you should still receive your refund. File a paper return. Note that when you file a paper return, it can take six to eight weeks for the IRS to process. This includes things like birth certificates and proof of identity, but also documents that show that your dependent lived with you at the same address for more than half of the year. This doesn’t mean that you can’t correct the situation. Don’t panic. The most important thing to remember is to prove with proper documentation that you are entitled to claim the dependent. Document your case as the IRS rules for claiming a dependent can get complicated.