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How do I confirm the IRS received my 83(b) election?

83(b)EquityTaxCompliance

You can call, but it will not get you what you want. The IRS does not send an acknowledgment when a mailed 83(b) election arrives, and the election is not entered into a system that a phone agent can look up and confirm. Calling the individual helpline tends to end with the agent saying they can see nothing, which proves nothing either way. The confirmation has to be created by you, at the moment you file, not obtained from the IRS afterwards.

What counts as proof

For a mailed election: the certified mail receipt with the postmark date, the return receipt showing delivery, and your signed copy of the election. Together they show what you sent, when, and that it arrived, and the tax code treats registered and certified mail as evidence of delivery. If you enclosed a second copy with a self-addressed stamped envelope and the IRS stamped it and sent it back, that stamped copy is the best evidence there is. For an election filed through the IRS online form, keep the on-screen confirmation and the downloaded copy of the submitted form. The company's copy belongs in its records too.

Why it will come up

Nobody asks for this in year one. They ask at the seed round, when investors' counsel runs diligence and requests each founder's 83(b) election and proof of filing. They ask again at an acquisition, when a buyer wants to know the founders' shares were taxed correctly at issue, because if they were not, the exposure travels with the company. A founder who cannot produce proof faces a deal delayed while everyone works out how bad the problem is, and by then a missed election cannot be fixed.

Proof lives in two places: with you, as the signed election and its receipt, and with the company, in its minute book. If Arabella generated your election, the signed copy is in your documents. The receipt is the piece only you can add, so scan it and file it alongside.

Written by the lawyers who built Arabella. This is legal information, not legal advice for your situation, and reading it does not make us your lawyers. For a real dispute or a high-stakes decision, talk to a licensed attorney. More questions.