Section 444 Election

"Form 8752 - Required Payment or Refund Under Section 7519" is certainly not the clearest form title.

Simply:

The IRS asks Fiscal Year, S Corporations, and Partnerships to file a Form 8752. The IRS then holds in an escrow-like account an estimate of you would have paid if you operated on a calendar year end. Essentially its like a security deposit that a landlord may require from a tenant.

However, since it is "in escrow" you receive a portion of the funds back if your profit decreases from year to year, and your receive the funds back in total if there is a tax loss or the business is dissolved.