What was the date on Line E of Form 2553?

In prior years, I have filed Form 2553 for late election with the return without any problem.  The Line E date was the same as corporation beginning date.  Perhaps if it was the initial year return, the Year beginning date should be the incorporation date instead of January 1.

In regards to efiling the return, if the IRS has not processed/approved the election and updated its computer, the efile will likely fail and the only option would be to paper file.

Back in 2020, client incorporated in October, and immediately sent in (paper filed) the election.  The e-extension was rejected because in the eyes of the IRS, the corporation "was not an S corp".  The extension was paper filed.  Still NO S corporation approval  was received in September 2021.  The tax return efiling was rejected.  Client ended up paper filing the return in September, along with form 2553 - citing the late filing procedure under the rev proc AND the explanation in terms of the sequence of events.  In November or so (might even be January 2022), client received the S corp determination letter.  The tax paper filing was accepted without a problem.

Hope this helps,