In the past, we filed Partnership Returns for an LLC with the IRS and the State of New Jersey.

In 2013, we filed and S Corporation election and an 1120-S with the IRS. Can we file a Partnership Return in New Jersey for 2013?

I guess it depends; In order for a corporation to be taxed (or not taxed) as an S corporation, it must file an election on Form 2553 no more than two months and 15 days after the beginning of the first year that it wants to be treated as an S corporation and you need to file f 1120s not 1065..if not, then yu need to fielform 1065, NOT 1120S. Many things can go wrong with filing the initial election and with maintaining the election, including failure to qualify as a small business corporation, failure to obtain consents of shareholders, and most importantly, just a garden variety failure to file the initial election on time.

A common scenario seems to be that the organizers of the corporation intend that it be an S corporation and somehow assume that they can take care of that when the time comes to file the first return. But, Congress thought otherwise, because it wanted the proper taxpayers to start making estimated tax payments way ahead of return filing time, hence the two month and 15 day due date for the election