The 83(b) election: the date, then the statement
Thirty days from transfer, no extensions, and the weekend and District of Columbia holiday rules that move the date. Then the statement itself — the seven things Treas. Reg. §1.83-2(e) requires it to contain, drafted from what you enter.
Leave these blank and you still get the date. Fill them in and the drafted statement carries your own facts rather than brackets. Your taxpayer identification number is not asked for here — the regulation requires it in the statement, so the draft leaves a marked blank and you write it in by hand.
This dates and drafts a decision you have already taken with your advisor. Whether an 83(b) election is right for you, and whether the property is even subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, is a tax judgement this tool does not make.
One date, and no way back from it
Most tax deadlines are negotiable in some direction. You can extend a return, you can pay late and argue about the penalty afterwards, you can ask for abatement and sometimes get it. The 83(b) election is the one that is not: thirty days from the transfer of the property, no extension provision in the regulation, and no cure if the day passes. What happens instead is simply that section 83(a) governs, and the stock is taxed as it vests, at whatever it is worth then. For a founder whose shares were worth almost nothing at transfer and a great deal two years later, the cost of the missed window is the entire difference, taxed as ordinary compensation income rather than capital gain.
Because the consequence is that asymmetric, the arithmetic deserves more care than it usually gets. Thirty calendar days is simple. The part that goes wrong is the roll: 26 U.S.C. §7503 moves a deadline that falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday to the next day that is none of those, and “legal holiday” there means a legal holiday in the District of Columbia. The District keeps one holiday the federal government does not — Emancipation Day, 16 April — so a thirtieth day landing on 16 April moves, and a tool working from the federal calendar alone reports a date one day early. Being early never costs anyone the election. Being told the wrong date does, because the wrong date is what goes in the calendar and the wrong date is what the postmark gets compared against.
The second thing worth being precise about is what filing means here. This is a mailing deadline settled by postmark, not a received-by deadline, which is why certified mail is the practice rather than a flourish. The receipt is the whole of your evidence. And since 2016 you no longer attach the election to your own return — T.D. 9779 removed that — so the only copies that matter are the one to the internal revenue office where you file and the one to the company, with a third to the transferee if the shares went somewhere other than to you. Item 7 of the statement is your representation that you sent them.
The statement itself is short and entirely specified. Seven items, each named in Treas. Reg. §1.83-2(e), signed, saying on its face that it is made under section 83(b). The IRS now publishes Form 15620 for it, which is welcome mostly because it removes the argument about format; the substance is unchanged. What no form can supply is the judgement underneath — whether the property is subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture at all, and whether paying tax now on a value you believe is low is the right trade for you. That belongs with your advisor. This page dates the decision and drafts the paper; it does not take the position.
Frequently asked questions
Can the 30 days be extended?
No. Treas. Reg. §1.83-2(b) says the election shall be filed not later than 30 days after the date the property was transferred, and there is no extension provision — not for illness, not for a bad address, not for a lawyer who was away. The only thing that moves the date is 26 U.S.C. §7503, which pushes a deadline falling on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday to the next day that is none of those. That is not an extension; it is the same deadline landing on the next open day.
Why does the date sometimes move on April 16 when that is not a federal holiday?
Because §7503 turns on a legal holiday in the District of Columbia, not a federal holiday. The District's list is the eleven federal holidays plus D.C. Emancipation Day on April 16 (D.C. Code §1-612.02), the same holiday that moves the April filing deadline in some years. A calculator that only knows the federal set will give you a date one day early when your thirtieth day lands there. Early is safe — but it is the wrong date, and the next thing a wrong date gets used for is a calendar invitation.
Is it a mailing deadline or a received-by deadline?
Mailing. Under the timely-mailing-is-timely-filing rule the election is on time if it is postmarked by the due date, which is why certified mail with a receipt is the standard practice rather than a precaution. Keep the receipt: if the IRS has no record of the election, the receipt is the only evidence you will have that it was sent, and there is no cure for an election that cannot be proved.
Do I attach a copy to my tax return?
Not any more, for property transferred on or after 1 January 2016. T.D. 9779 (81 FR 48708, 26 July 2016) removed that requirement and §1.83-2(g) records the date it took effect. What the regulation still requires is one copy filed with the internal revenue office where you file your return (§1.83-2(c)) and a copy furnished to the person for whom the services are performed, plus the transferee if that is someone else (§1.83-2(d)). Many checklists still ask for the return attachment; doing it anyway is harmless, but it is not what makes the election timely.
What exactly has to be in the statement?
Seven things, listed in Treas. Reg. §1.83-2(e): your name, address and taxpayer identification number; a description of each property the election covers; the date of transfer and the taxable year the election is made for; the nature of the restrictions; the fair market value at transfer determined without regard to any lapse restriction; the amount paid, if any; and a statement that copies have been furnished as §1.83-2(d) requires. It must also be signed and must say on its face that it is being made under section 83(b). The IRS now publishes Form 15620 for the election, and its boxes ask for the same seven items.
Can I undo an 83(b) election if the stock falls?
No, and the regulation forecloses exactly that argument. §1.83-2(f) permits revocation only with the Commissioner's consent, only where the taxpayer was under a mistake of fact as to the underlying transaction, and only if consent is requested within 60 days of the mistake first becoming known. It then says expressly that a mistake as to the value, or a decline in the value, of the property is not a mistake of fact. The election is a bet that the value at transfer is low, and the bet is final.
Why does this tool not ask for my Social Security number?
Because §1.83-2(e)(1) requires the taxpayer identification number in the statement, not in a web form. The drafted statement leaves a marked blank for it and tells you to write it in by hand. Collecting a government identifier to save one line of typing takes on a liability out of all proportion to the convenience, and this tool computes in your own browser anyway — there is nothing it could do with the number that your own pen cannot do better.