The American Institute of CPAs has written to the Internal Revenue Service asking the IRS to let small businesses electronically file the form used to elect S Corporation status.

Patricia Thompson

The AICPA said the IRS’s inability to quickly verify that the form has been filed results in delayed processing of S corporation tax returns. However, electronic filing of Form 2553, Election by a Small Business Corporation, would remove doubt about when, or whether, the form was filed and acknowledged by the government, according to the AICPA.

“Taxpayers would have immediate, verifiable assurance of S election status through the e-Services program,” wrote AICPA Tax Executive chair Patricia A. Thompson.

In the letter, the AICPA made other recommendations about how to improve Form 2553. The form should be modified so that it identifies each type of shareholder and how the stock is held, the AICPA said. This change would help reduce delayed or rejected elections based on inappropriate or missing signatures related to the type of interest held.

In addition, the AICPA said the form should be changed so that the name, address and taxpayer identification number of each shareholder is not disclosed to every other shareholder who has to sign the form.