Oct
What the month is actually for
October is not a magic election month. For many companies the S election for the current calendar year was due in March, or within two months and fifteen days of the start of the tax year. Late relief is a separate request, with its own facts.
What October still is, everywhere, is late enough to see the year and early enough that December has not swallowed the calendar. Estimated payments for individuals have a September date behind you and a January date ahead. The extended individual return sits in the middle of the month.
15
The extended return and the open month
If you extended a personal return, the extension moved the filing date. It did not move the requirement that the numbers be real. A return prepared from a bank feed that was never reconciled is a guess with a signature.
The useful October question is whether the months that belong on that return are closed. If they are, filing is a production job. If they are not, the job is the close, and the filing date is a reason to start this week rather than a reason to invent totals.
Next
Looking at next year's classification
October is also when an owner can see whether the default still fits. Profit that has become steady, a second owner, or wages that were never set up are all visible by then. A change that cannot touch this year can still be aimed at the next one, on purpose, with the form mailed while people remember why.
We will not tell you on a page to elect or not to elect. We will lay the return you are in next to the year you just had, and say what would have to be true for a different return to be worth the payroll and the extra form.
List
A short list that fits on one page
Certificate still matches the legal name. Bank title still matches the certificate. Last return's form number is the one you think you are. Acceptance letter is in the file or marked missing. Months through at least September are closed or honestly open. Any person you paid is in a payroll account, not in a miscellaneous expense with a nickname.
That list is the check. It is not a score. Bring the items you have and name the ones you do not.
See the monthly close
