To change your LLC to an S corp in Georgia, file IRS Form 2553 with the IRS. Your LLC stays an LLC under Georgia law, keeps the same EIN, and keeps the same registration with the Secretary of State, but the IRS begins taxing it as an S corporation. Georgia recognizes the federal election automatically, so there is no separate state election form. For a calendar-year business, Form 2553 must reach the IRS no later than March 15 of the year you want the election to take effect.
Confirm Your LLC Qualifies
Every requirement below has to be true. Missing one invalidates the election.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1361 – S Corporation Defined
- The LLC is formed in the United States.
- All members are individuals, certain trusts, or estates. Partnerships, corporations, and nonresident aliens cannot be members.
- There are 100 or fewer members.
- There is only one class of stock: all members have identical rights to distributions and liquidation proceeds. Different voting rights are fine; different economic rights are not.
- The LLC is not an ineligible entity type (certain financial institutions using reserve accounting for bad debts, insurance companies, and domestic international sales corporations).2Internal Revenue Service. S Corporations
The one-class-of-stock rule is where most LLCs trip. If your operating agreement gives any member a share of profits that doesn’t match their ownership percentage, or sets up preferred distributions, those terms likely create a second class of stock and sink the election. Pull your operating agreement out and read it before you file. Amend any unequal distribution provisions first.
What to Prepare Before You File
You do not need a new EIN. The IRS treats a change in tax election as unrelated to the entity’s identifier, so your existing number carries over.3Internal Revenue Service. When to Get a New EIN You also do not need to file Form 8832 separately. When an LLC files Form 2553, it is automatically treated as a corporation for tax purposes as of the election’s effective date.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2553 Election by a Small Business Corporation
Have this ready for the form:
- The LLC’s legal name, mailing address, and EIN.
- The date and state of formation.
- The tax year the election should take effect.
- For each member: name, address, Social Security number or EIN, ownership percentage, and the date they acquired their interest.
Every member has to consent to the election. Each one signs and dates a consent statement on Form 2553, or on a separate attached statement. If a member and spouse hold a community property interest in the LLC, both sign. There are no workarounds; the election is invalid without unanimous consent.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1362 – Election; Revocation; Termination
File Form 2553 with the IRS
For a calendar-year LLC, Form 2553 must be filed no more than two months and 15 days after the beginning of the tax year, which lands on March 15. You can also file it any time during the preceding tax year.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2553 Election by a Small Business Corporation File after March 15, and the election automatically shifts to the following tax year.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1362 – Election; Revocation; Termination
Georgia LLCs mail Form 2553 to: Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Kansas City, MO 64999. The fax option is 855-887-7734.6Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Your Taxes for Form 2553 The IRS mails back a confirmation letter stating the effective date. Save it. Your tax preparer will ask for it, and it is the cleanest proof you have that the election is on file.
If You Missed the Deadline
Revenue Procedure 2013-30 lets you request late election relief without the IRS private letter ruling process. To qualify, the LLC must meet all S-corp requirements and have failed to qualify only because the filing was late; you must have a reasonable cause for the delay; you and all members must have reported income as if the election were in effect for the year in question and every year since; and less than three years and 75 days must have passed since the intended effective date.7Internal Revenue Service. Late Election Relief
Write “FILED PURSUANT TO REV. PROC. 2013-30” across the top of Form 2553 and attach a statement explaining the reasonable cause. Send it to the same IRS service center.8Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2013-30 The reasonable cause explanation is where these requests get rejected, so this is worth running past a tax professional before you send it.
Georgia Side of the Election
Georgia recognizes the federal S-corp election automatically. There is no separate state-level election to file. One catch applies to multi-member LLCs with out-of-state owners: each nonresident member must sign Georgia Form 600 S-CA, agreeing to pay Georgia income tax on their share of the company’s Georgia taxable income. If any nonresident member refuses to sign, the S-corp election is terminated for Georgia purposes.9Georgia Department of Revenue. S Corporations – FAQ
With the election in place, income passes through to members and they pay Georgia individual income tax on their share. The LLC itself does not pay Georgia corporate income tax, but it must file Georgia Form 600S each year as an informational return.10Georgia Department of Revenue. 600S Corporation Tax Return Georgia also imposes a net worth tax on corporations; how it applies to a particular S-corp varies, and the Georgia Department of Revenue or a Georgia tax professional can tell you what you owe in your situation.
Separate from any of this, your LLC’s annual registration with the Georgia Secretary of State is still due by April 1 each year, with a $60 fee.11Georgia Secretary of State. How to File Annual Registration That is a business registration requirement, not a tax filing. Missing it does not affect your S-corp election, but it can lead to administrative dissolution of the LLC.12Georgia.gov. Renew an LLC
What Changes Once the Election Takes Effect
You Have to Pay Yourself a Salary
Any member who provides more than minor services to the business must receive a W-2 salary that the IRS considers reasonable before taking any profit distributions.13Internal Revenue Service. S Corporation Employees, Shareholders and Corporate Officers That salary is subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes like any other wage.
The IRS does not publish a formula. Courts have weighed the owner’s training and experience, the duties performed, time devoted to the business, what comparable businesses pay for similar work, and the company’s dividend history. Setting salary artificially low to dodge payroll taxes is the fastest way to attract an audit, and the IRS has won these cases repeatedly, with back taxes, penalties, and interest attached.14Internal Revenue Service. FS-2008-25 – Wage Compensation for S Corporation Officers
You File a Separate Return, Earlier
The S-corp files Form 1120-S with the IRS each year to report income, deductions, and credits. For calendar-year businesses the return is due March 15, a month before personal returns.15Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1120-S, U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation Each member gets a Schedule K-1 showing their share of profits and losses to report on their personal return. The earlier deadline trips up a lot of first-year S-corp filers.
When the Switch Actually Pays Off
The appeal of S-corp status is that profits paid as distributions are not subject to self-employment tax, while salary paid to owner-employees is. For a single-member LLC without the election, net income is hit with self-employment tax at 15.3% on the first $168,600 (the 2025 Social Security wage base) and 2.9% above that.
The savings come with running payroll, filing a separate return, and additional recordkeeping, which typically add $2,000 to $4,500 per year in accounting and payroll fees. Below roughly $50,000 to $60,000 in annual net business income, those costs often eat the savings entirely. The math starts working clearly in your favor around $100,000 in net income, where self-employment tax savings can reach approximately $5,000 per year after compliance costs.
One more wrinkle worth knowing before you file: the Section 199A qualified business income deduction. S-corp shareholders can deduct up to 20% of their qualified business income, but the W-2 salary you pay yourself does not count as qualified business income.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 199A – Qualified Business Income For higher earners above the income threshold, the deduction is partially limited based on W-2 wages the S-corp pays. Setting salary too low can shrink the deduction. A short consultation with a CPA who understands both the self-employment tax savings and the QBI interaction usually pays for itself before you file Form 2553.