Does Wisconsin recognize the federal S-corporation election?

Yes. Wisconsin 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 5S (Wisconsin Tax-Option (S) Corporation Franchise or Income Tax Return).

Which Wisconsin return does an S corporation file?

Form 5S (Wisconsin Tax-Option (S) Corporation Franchise or Income Tax Return).

S-corp election · WI

Wisconsin 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.

Wisconsin follows the federal S election. Filing IRS Form 2553 is enough — there is no separate Wisconsin election form. Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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 5S (Wisconsin Tax-Option (S) Corporation Franchise or Income Tax Return)

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 5S. 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 Wisconsin

A federal S corporation is treated as a Wisconsin 'tax-option (S) corporation' by default (a corporation can affirmatively opt out for state purposes with shareholder consent), so no separate state S-election form is filed. Income normally passes through to shareholders. Wisconsin also allows a tax-option corporation to elect to be taxed at the entity level at 7.9% (2017 Wis. Act 368, SALT-cap workaround), made on Form 5S.

Franchise or gross-receipts tax

Wisconsin's corporate tax is a franchise tax measured by net income at a flat 7.9% (a 7.9% income tax applies instead to corporations not subject to the franchise tax). It is NOT calculated on net worth and has no minimum or maximum dollar cap.

Wisconsin corporation vs Wisconsin 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	$100	$130
Report cadence	Every year	Every year
Report fee	$25	$25

Worth noticing: a corporation is $30 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 Wisconsin LLC cost breakdown · LLC vs C-corp explained · LLC vs S-corp explained

How Wisconsin 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. Wisconsin 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 5S (Wisconsin Tax-Option (S) Corporation Franchise or Income Tax Return).
: A federal S corporation is treated as a Wisconsin 'tax-option (S) corporation' by default (a corporation can affirmatively opt out for state purposes with shareholder consent), so no separate state S-election form is filed. Income normally passes through to shareholders. Wisconsin also allows a tax-option corporation to elect to be taxed at the entity level at 7.9% (2017 Wis. Act 368, SALT-cap workaround), made on Form 5S.
: Form 5S (Wisconsin Tax-Option (S) Corporation Franchise or Income Tax Return).

Where these numbers come from

This page covers how Wisconsin treats the federal S-corporation election and what an S corporation still owes the state. Every figure was checked against Wisconsin'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: