Can I call myself a CEO of my LLC taxed as an S Corp? Or still just a member?

You can absolutely call yourself CEO of your LLC regardless of how it's taxed. The title you use internally at your company is completely separate from your tax election status with the IRS. When you elect S Corp taxation for your LLC, you're only changing how the business is taxed, not its legal structure. Your business remains an LLC in terms of legal liability and state registration. The tax election simply allows you to be taxed as if you were an S Corporation. For internal company purposes, you can use whatever job title makes sense - CEO, President, Supreme Commander, whatever you want! There's no legal restriction on job titles within your organization. Many small business owners use CEO, President, or Owner on their business cards regardless of their legal structure.

When I was in this exact situation last year, I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to be incredibly helpful for understanding all the implications of the LLC taxed as S Corp arrangement. I uploaded my LLC docs and got clarity on not just the title issue but all the other operational requirements that come with the S Corp tax election. The site explained that titles like CEO don't impact your tax status at all - they confirmed it's a business formality separate from taxation. What DOES matter is making sure you're paying yourself a "reasonable salary" as an employee of your S Corp-taxed LLC rather than taking everything as distributions.

Ok so I tried taxr.ai after posting my skeptical comment and I have to admit it was super helpful! Uploaded my LLC docs and tax returns and got really specific feedback about my situation. The analysis showed me that my planned salary-to-distribution ratio would have been a red flag for the IRS. They also confirmed the title question - using CEO is totally fine on business cards and marketing materials. The important thing is using the correct legal designation (member/manager) on official state and federal filings. Wish I'd found this before spending hours reading contradictory advice online!

If you're making the S Corp election, you'll also need to deal with the IRS for various filings and possibly questions about your reasonable compensation. I tried for WEEKS to get through to someone at the IRS about my S Corp election questions last year. Finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and it was a game changer. They got me connected to an actual IRS agent within 45 minutes when I'd been trying for days. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent confirmed that internal titles have zero impact on tax treatment - it's all about how you structure your actual compensation (salary vs distributions). They helped me understand exactly what forms I needed to file for the S Corp election too.

Ok I have to eat my words about Claimyr. After calling the IRS myself for THREE DAYS and never getting through, I tried it yesterday. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 35 minutes. The agent confirmed everything that's been said in this thread - your internal title has no bearing on your tax status. You can be CEO, President, Grand Poobah, whatever. The important thing is filing the correct forms for your S Corp election (Form 2553) and maintaining proper payroll practices once you make the election. Also found out I'd been doing my estimated tax payments incorrectly since making the S Corp election. Would have had a nasty surprise at tax time if I hadn't gotten this cleared up!

Just wanted to add some real world experience here - I've been operating my LLC with S Corp taxation for 3 years now. On my business cards and website I use "CEO & Founder" but on all my tax forms and state filings, I use "Member" or "Managing Member." The big thing to remember is that with S Corp taxation, you MUST pay yourself a reasonable salary based on your industry and services. This means running payroll, withholding taxes, filing quarterly payroll reports, etc. It's more paperwork but can save thousands in self-employment taxes.

Don't forget that if you elect S corp taxation, you need to hold regular board meetings and keep minutes too! I forgot to do this and my accountant freaked out.

Titles aside, make sure you're keeping your business and personal finances totally separate if you go the S Corp route. The IRS looks at S Corps more closely, especially small ones. You'll need a separate business bank account, keep good records, and be careful about how you categorize expenses. Just my two cents from someone who went through an audit last year after electing S Corp status for my LLC. The business card title wasn't a problem but they definitely scrutinized my salary vs distributions ratio carefully!

Great question! I went through this same decision process last year. You can definitely use "CEO" on your business cards and marketing materials - it's purely a business title and has zero impact on your tax status with the IRS. The key thing to remember is context matters. For internal business purposes (business cards, LinkedIn, website, etc.), use whatever title feels right - CEO, President, Founder, etc. But on official tax forms and state filings, you'll still need to use the proper LLC terminology like "Member" or "Managing Member" depending on your LLC structure. One thing I wish someone had told me earlier: if you're serious about the S Corp election, start planning for the payroll requirements now. You'll need to pay yourself a "reasonable salary" as an employee, which means setting up payroll, withholding taxes, and filing quarterly reports. It's more administrative work but can save significant money on self-employment taxes if your business is profitable enough. The title change is the easy part - it's all the operational changes that come with S Corp taxation that require more attention!