Can I late-elect S-Corp for 2025 if I was a single-member LLC but didn’t run payroll or separate books?

Title: Can I late-elect S-Corp for 2025 if I was a single-member LLC but didn’t run payroll or separate books?

Hi everyone — I’m trying to understand whether late S-Corp election relief might apply in my situation.

For 2025, my business was a single-member LLC. I did not file Form 2553 during 2025, so technically I was just operating as a default LLC (Schedule C).

Operationally:

• I did not run payroll
• I did not issue myself a W-2
• I basically just transferred money from the business account to my personal account
• I didn’t keep any special bookkeeping separating salary vs distributions

I recently learned about late S-Corp election relief under Rev. Proc. 2013-30, which seems to allow filing Form 2553 late in some situations.

My questions:

1. Is it even realistic to late elect S-Corp for the 2025 tax year if I didn’t run payroll or treat myself as an employee during the year?
2. Would the IRS generally require that I had already been operating like an S-Corp (payroll, officer compensation, etc.)?
3. Or is it usually better to just file 2025 as Schedule C and elect S-Corp starting 2026?

Just trying to understand what’s possible before I talk to a CPA.

Thanks!