S-Corp with Fiscal Year End June 30th - Which Tax Year Return Do I File?
So I've got an S-Corporation with a fiscal year ending June 30th, 2024. I'm getting conflicting advice about which tax year return I should be using for filing. Would I file this as a 2023 or 2024 return? I've been searching through IRS publications but everything seems written for calendar year businesses. Is there a straightforward rule for determining which tax year to use when you have a fiscal year end? This is only my second year operating with this business structure, and last year my accountant handled everything. Now I'm trying to get organized early and understand the process better myself.
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Carmella Popescu
For an S-Corporation with a fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, you would file a 2023 Form 1120-S. The general rule is that you file using the year in which your fiscal year began. Since your fiscal year started July 1, 2023 and ended June 30, 2024, you'd file a 2023 return. This can be confusing because the return covers activity that spans two calendar years, but the IRS designates the return by the year in which the fiscal period began. You'll need to file this return by the 15th day of the 3rd month after your fiscal year ends, which would be September 15, 2024. Just remember: fiscal year returns are identified by the calendar year in which the fiscal year begins, not when it ends.
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Kai Santiago
•Thanks for the explanation. I've heard that S-Corps aren't actually allowed to have fiscal years different from their owners unless there's a "business purpose." Is that true? I'm the only shareholder and my personal taxes are calendar year.
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Carmella Popescu
•That's an excellent point. S-Corporations generally must use a calendar year unless they can establish a business purpose for a different fiscal year. Common approved business purposes include natural business cycles (like seasonal businesses) or matching a key customer/industry cycle. If you didn't get specific IRS approval for your fiscal year via Form 1128, you might actually be required to use a calendar year. This is something you should verify immediately, as using an unauthorized fiscal year can create complications. If your previous accountant set this up, check if they filed for and received proper approval from the IRS.
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Lim Wong
After going through a similar headache with my fiscal year S-Corp, I finally found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that saved me hours of confusion. I uploaded my incorporation docs and financial statements, and it instantly identified the correct tax year for filing and gave me a detailed explanation about my fiscal year requirements. It even flagged that I needed to verify if I had proper authorization for my fiscal year! Apparently many accountants set up fiscal years without completing the proper IRS procedures, which can become a huge issue if you get audited.
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Dananyl Lear
•Does it work for other entity types too? I have an LLC taxed as a partnership with a Sept 30 year-end and always get confused about which year to file under.
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Noah huntAce420
•I'm skeptical about these online tools. Does it actually access your IRS filing history to verify if proper forms were submitted for the fiscal year election? Seems like it would need that info to really know if you're compliant.
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Lim Wong
•It absolutely works for partnerships and other entity types too. The system is designed to handle various tax structures including LLCs taxed as partnerships. You just upload your formation documents and it identifies the correct filing requirements based on your specific situation. For your question about IRS filing history - it doesn't directly access IRS records, but it analyzes your uploaded documents (like previous returns and formation papers) to determine if proper procedures were followed. In my case, it recognized from my Articles of Incorporation and previous returns that I needed to verify Form 1128 approval, which my accountant confirmed had been properly filed years ago. The tool essentially serves as a checks-and-balances system that catches these compliance details.
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Noah huntAce420
Just wanted to update about my experience with taxr.ai after trying it out. I was really skeptical at first (as you can see from my earlier comment), but after using it I'm genuinely impressed. I had a similar fiscal year issue with my S-Corp and wasn't sure if my accountant had properly established our September 30 year-end. The system analyzed my documents and flagged that there was no record of Form 1128 approval in my paperwork. Called my accountant in a panic, and it turns out he never filed it! We're now working to correct this before it becomes an audit issue. The tool also identified which tax year I should be filing under based on my situation and explained all the deadlines. Definitely saved me from a potential IRS headache.
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Ana Rusula
If you're having trouble getting clear answers from the IRS about your fiscal year filing requirements, try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent weeks trying to get through to an IRS agent about my S-Corp's fiscal year situation, constantly hitting those "call volume too high" messages. Claimyr got me connected to a real IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of the hours I was wasting on hold. The agent confirmed everything about my fiscal year requirements and verified my Form 1128 status was properly recorded in their system. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. Seriously, it saved me from taking a day off work just to sit on hold with the IRS.
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Fidel Carson
•How does this service actually work? Does it just keep auto-dialing the IRS until it gets through? Not sure how this would be any different than me just calling repeatedly.
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Isaiah Sanders
•I don't buy it. The IRS phone system is deliberately designed to limit calls. There's no "secret backdoor" to get through faster. Sounds like you got lucky or they're using some questionable method that could get shut down.
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Ana Rusula
•It doesn't just auto-dial. Their system navigates the complex IRS phone tree and holds your place in line so you don't have to. When they reach a live agent, they call you and connect you directly. It's the difference between you personally sitting on hold for hours versus their system doing the waiting for you. No "secret backdoor" involved - they're just using technology to make the standard process more efficient. It's like using a shopping service instead of going to the store yourself. The IRS doesn't care who waits on hold, they just respond to the next caller in queue. I understand the skepticism, but after wasting entire mornings trying to reach someone, having them hold my place in line while I continued working was absolutely worth it.
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Isaiah Sanders
I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I had some questions about my S-Corp's fiscal year that I couldn't resolve online. I was convinced it was some kind of scam or would just put me in the same endless IRS queue. Well, I was completely wrong. Got connected to an IRS representative in about 35 minutes (after previously spending 3+ hours on multiple attempts getting nowhere). The agent answered my fiscal year filing questions and confirmed I needed to use a 2023 return for my fiscal year ending 3/31/2024. They even helped me verify that my Form 1128 was properly processed years ago. Honestly wish I'd known about this service months ago when I was first dealing with this confusion.
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Xan Dae
One important point nobody has mentioned - make sure you're marking the correct tax year on all your forms. I made the mistake of marking "2024" on my S-Corp return with a fiscal year ending 8/31/2023 because that's when I was filing it. The IRS kicked it back and it delayed everything by months. The form should show the year in which the fiscal year BEGAN, not when you're filing or when the fiscal year ended.
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Lorenzo McCormick
•Thanks for bringing this up! So for my situation with fiscal year ending 6/30/2024, I would mark "2023" on all the forms since that fiscal year began in July 2023, correct? Do I also need to write the actual dates of my fiscal year somewhere on the forms?
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Xan Dae
•Yes, you would mark "2023" on the forms since your fiscal year began in July 2023. And absolutely, you need to clearly indicate your fiscal year dates on the return. On Form 1120-S, there's a specific area at the top of the form where you enter the tax year. You'll check the "fiscal year" box and enter the beginning and ending dates (07/01/2023 - 06/30/2024). This is critical - if you don't clearly indicate your fiscal year dates, the IRS will process it as if you're filing for a calendar year, which would cause all kinds of problems.
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Fiona Gallagher
Stupid question maybe, but does anyone know if there's any tax advantage to having a fiscal year vs calendar year for an S-Corp? My CPA suggested switching to fiscal year ending 9/30 but didn't really explain why it would benefit me.
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Thais Soares
•Not a stupid question at all. Fiscal years can provide timing advantages for tax planning. By ending your fiscal year on 9/30, you get an extra 9 months to implement tax strategies before your tax year closes. This can be helpful for deferring income, timing expenses, etc. However, remember that S-Corps pass income through to shareholders' personal returns, which are typically calendar year. This mismatch can create complexity. Also, as others mentioned, you need a legitimate business purpose and IRS approval via Form 1128. Seasonal businesses or those with natural business cycles often have valid reasons for fiscal years.
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Nina Fitzgerald
Just want to add a quick clarification that might help others avoid confusion - when you're determining which tax year to use, always remember that the IRS considers the fiscal year to "belong" to the calendar year in which it begins, not ends. So if your fiscal year runs from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, it's a "2023 fiscal year" and you file Form 1120-S for tax year 2023. This applies even though most of the business activity might have occurred in calendar year 2024. Also, don't forget that your K-1s to shareholders will also be marked as 2023, which means shareholders report this income on their 2023 personal tax returns (due April 15, 2024). This timing can sometimes work in your favor for tax planning purposes, but it's important to communicate clearly with shareholders about which tax year they'll be reporting the pass-through income.
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