Many small U.S. businesses elect to organize as S corporations for tax purposes. Owners of qualified businesses must first submit a completed Form 2553 (“Election by a Small Business Corporation”) to the IRS. One taxpayer filed his tax return, including a loss from his business that he considered an S corp. The IRS disallowed the loss, stating the business wasn’t an S corp because no Form 2553 had been received. The owner argued that he’d completed the form the year before and instructed an employee to mail it. Without evidence of mailing and no form received by the IRS until 2015, the U.S. Tax Court agreed with the IRS and disallowed S corp status for 2012. (TC Summary Opinion 2019-22)