A Second Class of Stock May Not Jeopardize Your S Election

On Christmas Eve, while Santa was packing up his sleigh, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released a Private Letter Ruling related to S election status. As noted in a previous Insight Blog, corporations may jeopardize their S election by failing to timely submit Form 2553, failing to obtain spousal consent, or, in this case, creating a second class of stock. Here, however, despite the creation of a second class of stock, the IRS determined that the termination of the taxpayer’s S election was inadvertent and, therefore, still valid.

S Election Terminations, Generally

Generally, a small business corporation may terminate its S election in a number of manners.[1] For example, a majority of the corporation’s shareholders may elect to voluntarily revoke the election.[2] Further, a corporation may cease to be a small business corporation (e.g., having more than 100 shareholders) or the corporation’s passive investment income may exceed 25 percent of gross receipts for three consecutive taxable years and the corporation has accumulated earnings and profits.[3]

Read More