Does Massachusetts recognize the federal S-corporation election?

Yes. Massachusetts follows the federal S election, and no separate state election form is required — filing federal Form 2553 with the IRS is enough. The corporation does still file Form 355S, S Corporation Excise Return (must be filed electronically).

Which Massachusetts return does an S corporation file?

Form 355S, S Corporation Excise Return (must be filed electronically).

S-corp election · MA

Massachusetts S-Corporation Election

By Edmond Hui · Facts verified July 29, 2026 against primary state sources

Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.

Massachusetts follows the federal S election. Filing IRS Form 2553 is enough — there is no separate Massachusetts election form. Massachusetts is one of 43 states that follow the federal election with no state form of their own.

State treatmentFollows the federal election

Separate state formNot required

State corporate income taxYes

Does Massachusetts recognize the federal S election?

State treatment of the S election

Follows the federal election	Yes
Separate state election form	None required
State return	Form 355S, S Corporation Excise Return (must be filed electronically)

No separate state election to file: the federal election on IRS Form 2553 carries over. That is the election only — the corporation still files Form 355S, S Corporation Excise Return. Of the 50 states, 43 follow the federal election with no state form of their own, and 1 more — New York — recognizes S status but requires an election of its own as well.

What an S corporation still owes Massachusetts

A federal S corporation is automatically an S corporation for Massachusetts purposes — no separate Massachusetts election is necessary or allowed. S corps still owe the $2.60 per $1,000 non-income (net worth / tangible property) measure and the $456 minimum excise. Under M.G.L. c. 63, s. 32D they also owe an income measure once total receipts reach $6,000,000: two-thirds of the full rate (2.0%) for receipts of $6M but under $9M, and the full rate (3.0% = the 8.0% corporate rate minus the 5.0% Part B personal income tax rate) for receipts of $9M or more. Form 355S is due the 15th day of the 3rd month after year end; Form 355 (C corp) is due the 15th day of the 4th month.

Franchise or gross-receipts tax

The Massachusetts corporate excise (M.G.L. c. 63, s. 39) has TWO measures: (1) an income measure of 8.0% of net income and (2) a non-income measure of $2.60 per $1,000 of taxable Massachusetts tangible property or taxable net worth. A corporation may never pay less than the $456 minimum excise, and Massachusetts law makes no provision for prorating it — a corporation operating at a loss still owes $456.

Massachusetts corporation vs Massachusetts LLC

State filing charges only. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded because both depend on income or net worth, so no flat figure exists for either entity.

	Corporation	LLC
Formation filing fee	$275	$520
Report cadence	Every year	Every year
Report fee	$125	$520

Worth noticing: a corporation is $245 cheaper to file here than an LLC. That is the exception nationally — corporations are the cheaper filing in only 15 of the 50 states, the two entities cost the same in 25, and the LLC is cheaper in 10.

Full Massachusetts LLC cost breakdown · LLC vs C-corp explained · LLC vs S-corp explained

How Massachusetts compares

State treatment of the federal S election	States
Follows the federal election, no state form needed	43
No corporate income tax, so no state election exists	4
Has a corporate income tax and does not follow the election — the corporation is taxed like a C corporation	2
Follow the election but still impose some entity-level tax on the S corporation — California, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts and Delaware among them	—
Require a separate state election form as well	1

Compare all 50 states · LLC vs S-corp · S-corp salary and savings calculator

Frequently Asked Questions

: Yes. Massachusetts follows the federal S election, and no separate state election form is required — filing federal Form 2553 with the IRS is enough. The corporation does still file Form 355S, S Corporation Excise Return (must be filed electronically).
: A federal S corporation is automatically an S corporation for Massachusetts purposes — no separate Massachusetts election is necessary or allowed. S corps still owe the $2.60 per $1,000 non-income (net worth / tangible property) measure and the $456 minimum excise. Under M.G.L. c. 63, s. 32D they also owe an income measure once total receipts reach $6,000,000: two-thirds of the full rate (2.0%) for receipts of $6M but under $9M, and the full rate (3.0% = the 8.0% corporate rate minus the 5.0% Part B personal income tax rate) for receipts of $9M or more. Form 355S is due the 15th day of the 3rd month after year end; Form 355 (C corp) is due the 15th day of the 4th month.
: Form 355S, S Corporation Excise Return (must be filed electronically).

Where these numbers come from

This page covers how Massachusetts treats the federal S-corporation election and what an S corporation still owes the state. Every figure was checked against Massachusetts's own published sources on July 29, 2026— the state business filing agency's fee schedule, the governing statute, and where a state tax applies, the state Department of Revenue. Commercial formation-service pages were used as leads only and are never cited. Anything the review could not confirm from an official source is left blank on this page rather than filled with an estimate.

Corporate income tax and franchise tax are quoted as the state publishes them, as rate schedules and thresholds, and are excluded from every dollar total here. They depend on income or net worth, so there is no flat figure that would be true for every corporation.

Primary sources: