Form 8716

(Rev. August 2021) 

Department of the Treasury 

Internal Revenue Service 

Election To Have a Tax Year Other Than a 

Required Tax Year

▶ Go to www.irs.gov/Form8716 for the latest information.

OMB No. 1545-0123 

Type or 

Print 

Name Employer identification number 

Number, street, and room or suite no. (or P.O. box number if mail is not delivered to street address) 

City or town, state, and ZIP code 

1 Check applicable box to indicate type of entity. 

Partnership 

S corporation (or C corporation electing to 

be an S corporation) 

Personal service corporation (PSC) 

2 Name and telephone number (including area code) of person who 

may be called for information: 

3 Enter ending date of the tax year for the entity’s last filed return. A new entity should enter 

the ending date of the tax year it is adopting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Month Day Year 

4 Enter ending date of required tax year determined under section 441(i), 706(b), or 1378 . .

Month Day 

5 Section 444(a) Election. Check the applicable box and enter the ending date of the first tax 

year for which the election will be effective that the entity is (see instructions): 

Adopting Retaining Changing to 

Month Day Year 

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 

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless 

otherwise noted. 

Purpose of Form 

Form 8716 is filed by partnerships, S corporations, and personal 

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 

Form 8716 must be signed and filed by the earlier of: 

1. The 15th day of the 5th month following the month that 

includes the 1st day of the tax year the election will be effective, 

or 

2. The due date (not including extensions) of the income tax 

return for the tax year resulting from the section 444 election. 

Items 1 and 2 relate 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 

automatically granted a 12-month extension to make an election 

on Form 8716. To obtain an extension, type or legibly print 

“Filed Pursuant To Section 301.9100-2” at the top of Form 

8716, and file the form within 12 months of the original due date.

Where To File 

File Form 8716 at the applicable IRS address shown below. 

If the entity’s principal 

place of business or 

principal office or 

agency is located in 

Use the following 

address 

Connecticut, Delaware, District of 

Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, 

Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, 

Massachusetts, Michigan, 

New Hampshire, New Jersey, 

New York, North Carolina, Ohio, 

Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South 

Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, 

Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin 

Department of the Treasury 

Internal Revenue Service Center 

Kansas City, MO 64999 

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, 

California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, 

Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, 

Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, 

Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, 

New Mexico, North Dakota, 

Oklahoma, Oregon, 

South Dakota, Texas, Utah, 

Washington, Wyoming 

Department of the Treasury 

Internal Revenue Service Center 

Ogden, UT 84201 

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) 
Form 8716 (Rev. 8-2021) Page 2 

Also file a copy of Form 8716 with your income tax return for 

the first tax year for which the election is made. To enable 

electronic filing, you may file an unsigned Form 8716 containing 

the same information as on the signed Form 8716 you filed 

separately. 

Effect of Section 444 Election 

Partnerships and S corporations. An electing partnership or 

S corporation must file Form 8752, Required Payment or Refund 

Under Section 7519, for each year the election is in effect even 

if the required payment for the applicable election year is zero. 

Form 8752 is used to figure and make the payment required 

under section 7519 or to obtain a refund of net prior year 

payments. File Form 8752 by May 15 following the calendar 

year in which each applicable election year begins. 

The section 444 election will end if the partnership or 

S corporation willfully fails to comply with the requirements of 

section 7519. 

Personal service corporations (PSCs). An electing PSC 

should not file Form 8752. Instead, it must comply with the 

minimum distribution requirements (see next paragraph) of 

section 280H for each year the election is in effect. If the PSC 

does not meet these requirements, the applicable amounts it 

may deduct for payments made to its employee-owners may be 

limited. 

Use Schedule H (Form 1120), Section 280H Limitations for a 

Personal Service Corporation (PSC), to figure the required 

minimum distribution and the maximum deductible amount. 

Attach Schedule H to the income tax return of the PSC for each 

tax year the PSC does not meet the minimum distribution 

requirements. 

The section 444 election will end if the PSC is penalized for 

willfully failing to comply with the requirements of section 280H. 

Members of Certain Tiered Structures May 

Not Make Election 

No election may be made under section 444(a) by an entity that 

is part of a tiered structure other than a tiered structure that 

consists entirely of partnerships and/or S corporations all of 

which have the same tax year. An election previously made will 

be terminated if an entity later becomes part of a tiered 

structure that is not allowed to make the election. See 

Temporary Regulations section 1.444-2T for other details. 

Acceptance of Election 

After your election is received and accepted by the service 

center, the center will stamp it “Accepted” and return a copy to 

you. Be sure to keep a copy of the form marked “Accepted” for 

your records. 

End of Election 

The election is made only once. It remains in effect until the 

entity changes its accounting period to its required tax year or 

some other permitted year or it is penalized for willfully failing to 

comply with the requirements of section 280H or 7519. If the 

election is terminated, the entity may not make another section 

444 election. 

Signature 

Form 8716 is not a valid election unless it is signed. For 

partnerships, a partner or a limited liability company member 

must sign and date the election. 

For corporations, the election must be signed and dated by 

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. 

If a receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, or assignee controls the 

entity’s property or business, that person must sign the election. 

Specific Instructions 

Line 1 

Check the applicable box to indicate whether the entity is 

classified for federal income tax purposes as a partnership, an 

S corporation (or a C corporation electing to be an 

S corporation), or a PSC. 

A corporation electing to be an S corporation that wants to 

make a section 444 election is not required to attach a copy of 

Form 8716 to its Form 2553, Election by a Small Business 

Corporation. However, the corporation is required to state on 

Form 2553 its intention to make a section 444 election (or a 

backup section 444 election). If a corporation is making a 

backup section 444 election (provided for in Part II, item Q, of 

Form 2553), it must type or print the words “Backup Election” at 

the top of the Form 8716 it files. See Temporary Regulations 

section 1.444-3T for more details. 

Line 2 

Enter the name and telephone number (including the area code) 

of a person that the IRS may call for information needed to 

complete the processing of the election. 

Line 4 

Required tax year. The required tax year for an S corporation 

or PSC is a calendar year. Generally, the required tax year for a 

partnership is the tax year of a majority of its partners (see 

Regulations section 1.706-1(b) for details). 

Line 5 

The following limitations and special rules apply in determining 

the tax year an entity may elect. 

New entity adopting a tax year. An entity adopting a tax year 

may elect a tax year under section 444 only if the deferral period 

of the tax year is not more than 3 months. See Deferral period,

later.

Existing entity retaining a tax year. In certain cases, an entity 

may elect to retain its tax year if the deferral period is not more 

than 3 months. If the entity does not want to elect to retain its 

tax year, it may elect to change its tax year as explained below. 

Existing entity changing a tax year. An existing entity may 

elect to change its tax year if the deferral period of the elected 

tax year is not more than the shorter of 3 months or the deferral 

period of the tax year being changed. If the tax year being 

changed is the entity’s required tax year, the deferral period for 

that year is zero and the entity is not permitted to make a 

section 444 election. 

Example. ABC, a C corporation that historically used a tax 

year ending October 31, elects S status and wants to make a 

section 444 election for its tax year beginning November 1. 

ABC’s required tax year under section 1378 is a calendar tax 

year. In this case, the deferral period of the tax year being 

changed is 2 months. Thus, ABC may elect to retain its tax year 

beginning November 1 and ending October 31 or elect a tax 

year beginning on December 1 (with a deferral period of 1 

month). However, it may not elect a tax year beginning October 

1 because the 3-month deferral period would be longer than the 

2-month deferral period of the tax year being changed. If ABC 

elects a tax year beginning on December 1, it must file a short 

tax year return beginning November 1 and ending November 30. 
Form 8716 (Rev. 8-2021) Page 3 

Deferral period. The term “deferral period” means the number 

of months between the last day of the elected tax year and the 

last day of the required tax year. For example, if you elected a 

tax year that ends on September 30 and your required tax year 

is the calendar year, the deferral period would be 3 months (the 

number of months between September 30 and December 31).

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the information 

on this form to carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the United 

States. You are required to give us the information. We need it 

to ensure that you are complying with these laws and to allow 

us to figure and collect the right amount of tax. 

You are not required to provide the information requested on 

a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless 

the form displays a valid OMB control number. Books or 

records relating to a form or its instructions must be retained as 

long as their contents may become material in the 

administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax 

returns and return information are confidential, as required by 

section 6103. 

The time needed to complete and file this form will vary 

depending on individual circumstances. The estimated burden 

for business taxpayers filing this form is approved under OMB 

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.