How to Start an S Corp in Arizona

Before forming an S corp, you have to consider the following factors:

• Is an S corporation the best strategy for your business?
• S corporation restrictions
• Are S corp tax advantages right for you?

Is an S Corporation the Best Strategy for Your Business?

For help with choosing the right structure for your business, visit our Choosing a Business Structure guide.

S Corporation Restrictions

S corps have several restrictions, such as being limited to one class of stock and 100 shareholders. Read our What Is an S Corporation guide for full details.

Are S Corp Tax Advantages Right for You?

An S corporation is a tax designation that can be elected by an LLC or corporation. With an S corp, business owners are considered employees of the company and must receive a reasonable salary. Since all S corps technically have employees, the s corp must run payroll. 

In order to benefit from a Arizona S corp tax designation, your business needs to make enough money to offset payroll expenses. Furthermore, S corps are beneficial for business owners who take large distributions in addition to their salary.

To learn more about the tax advantages of an S corp, read our LLC vs. S corp guide and take a look at our S Corp tax calculator.

There are two main ways to start an S corp:

• By forming an LLC and electing S corp tax status from the IRS when you request your employee identification number (EIN)
• By forming a corporation and electing S corp status from the IRS

We recommend not starting a corporation with the S corp tax status because the S corp negates all of the benefits of a corporation.

Recommended: If you have an existing LLC, visit our How to Convert an LLC to S Corp guide.

Step 2: Choose Your Arizona Registered Agent

You must elect a statutory agent, also known as a registered agent, for your Arizona LLC.

An LLC registered agent will accept legal documents and tax notices on your LLC's behalf. You will list your registered agent when you file your LLC's Articles of Organization.

Many business owners choose to hire a registered agent service. Many of these services will form your LLC for a small fee and include the first year of registered agent services for free.

Arizona Registered Agent Consent to Appointment

Statutory agents in Arizona must consent to their appointment in written or electronic form.

The statement of consent should include:

• The name of your LLC
• The name of the person designated as statutory agent
• An express statement that the person designated consents to serve as the LLC’s registered agent
• The signature of the statutory agent
• The date of execution

For in-depth information on this requirement, as well as a downloadable consent form, view Statutory Agent Acceptance Form M002.

Step 3: File the Arizona LLC Articles of Organization

The Arizona LLC Articles of Organization is used to officially register an LLC.

Step 4: Complete Publication Requirement

Newly formed LLCs in Arizona must publish a Notice of LLC Formation in an approved newspaper for three consecutive weeks. The approved newspaper must be in the same county as the LLC’s principal office and publication must be done within 60 days of formation.

Your Notice of LLC Formation should include:

• Your LLC's name
• The name and street address of your statutory agent
• The address of the LLC's principal place of business (if different from the statutory agent address)
• Whether your LLC is member-managed or manager-managed
• The name(s) and address(es) of either your LLC manager or each member of your LLC

To learn more, be sure to read our complete guide to Arizona LLC publication requirements.

Step 5: Create an LLC Operating Agreement

An LLC operating agreement is a legal document that outlines the ownership and member duties of your LLC.

For more information, read our Arizona LLC Operating Agreement guide.

Our operating agreement tool is a free resource for business owners.

Step 6: Get an EIN and Complete Form 2553 on the IRS Website

An EIN is a number that is used by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to identify and tax businesses. It is essentially a Social Security number for a business.

EINs are free when you apply directly with the IRS.

Elect S Corp Tax Status
During the online EIN application, the IRS will provide a link to Form 2553, the Election By a Small Business form.

Visit our Form 2553 Instructions guide for detailed help with completing the form.

This is the form to elect S corp tax status for your LLC:

Creating a business is a big undertaking, but once you’ve established your company and declared S corp status, it’s important that you keep your business compliant with state and federal laws. All Arizona S corps are required to file an S-Corporation Income Tax Return with the state of Arizona. Additionally, some states will need to pay an Arizona Transaction Privilege Tax. 

Arizona S Corp Annual Report

Unlike most states, Arizona LLCs that are taxed as S corporations are not required to file an annual report. However, Arizona S corps are still required to pay taxes. 

Arizona S Corp Taxes

S corporations benefit from pass-through taxation, meaning the business’s profits pass-through to S corp owners’ individual tax returns. S corp owners make money from their reasonable salary and distributions, and Arizona S corp owners can expect to pay the following taxes:

Federal Self-Employment Taxes

Self-employment taxes cover social security and medicare. The self-employment tax rate is 15.3%, and money you take as salary will be subjected to the self-employment tax. However, distributions are not subjected to this tax.

Federal Income Taxes

Your federal income taxes will depend on your tax bracket, and the cutoffs for individual tax brackets as well as the percent owed will change each year. Both your salary and distributions are subjected to federal income tax.

Arizona Income Taxes - Form 120S

All LLCs taxed as S corps must file Form 120S, the Arizona S-Corporation Income Tax Return with the Arizona Department of Revenue. The current tax rate in Arizona is 4.9%, and in addition to filing Form 120S, you will need to pay the income tax itself. State income taxes can range from 0% to 10%, so Arizona’s rate of 4.9% is somewhere in the middle of that range. If your income tax liability is over $1,000, you will need to pay quarterly. Tax payments can be done over Arizona’s website AZTaxes. 

Form 120S along with the tax payments, must be completed each year to keep your business compliant, and if your S corp runs on a calendar year, the due date for this is March 15th. 

Arizona Sales and Use Tax

In Arizona, their sales and use tax is called a transaction privilege tax (TPT). If your business is required to pay Arizona’s transaction privilege tax, then your business also needs to apply for a  transaction privilege tax license. This is done through Arizona’s Department of Revenue, and businesses that are subjected to TPT and must register for a TPT license include: 

• retail sales
• restaurants/bars
• hotel/motel (transient lodging)
• commercial lease
• amusements
• personal property rentals
• contracting
• severance (metal mining)
• transporting
• nonmetal mining
• job printing
• publishing
• utilities
• telecommunications
• private (rail) car

For more information, checkout Arizona’s Department of Revenue website.

Arizona Local Taxes

Whether your business is in Phoenix, Tucson, or a smaller city in the state, each local municipality may have their own taxes your business is required to pay and file. Check with your local government to make sure your business complies with local laws.

• S Corp vs LLC 
• Sole Proprietorship vs S Corp
• S Corporation Tax Calculator
• How to Convert an LLC to S Corp
• S Corp Tax Rate