In short
- Who files: a US LLC wholly owned by one foreign person, and a US corporation with a 25% foreign shareholder.
- What makes a year reportable: a contribution, a payout, a loan or a payment between the LLC and its owner.
- How it is sent: with a pro forma Form 1120, by fax to 855-887-7737 or by post, never online.
- When: by 15 April for a calendar year, or 15 October with Form 7004. The fine is $25,000, then $25,000 for each 30 days once an IRS notice is 90 days old.
In this guide
Who files Form 5472: an LLC with one foreign owner, and two other filers
Form 5472 is an information return under sections 6038A and 6038C of the Internal Revenue Code. It reports the transactions between a US company and its foreign owner or other related parties, and it carries no tax.
A US LLC owned wholly by one foreign person has filed it since 2017. For income tax the LLC is disregarded and files no return. For section 6038A the regulations treat it as a separate domestic corporation.
| Filer | Files Form 5472 for a year in which |
|---|---|
| A US LLC owned wholly by one foreign person, directly or through other disregarded entities | Any transaction passed between the LLC and its owner, a contribution and a payout included |
| A US corporation with a 25% foreign shareholder at any time in the year | It had a reportable transaction with a related party, foreign or domestic |
| A foreign corporation with a trade or business in the USA | It had a reportable transaction; the form goes with its Form 1120-F |
A foreign person is an individual who is neither a US citizen nor a US resident, or a company, estate or trust organised abroad. A 25% foreign shareholder holds at least 25% of the votes or the value, directly or through attribution.
We prepare the form every year as part of accounting services in the USA, from the books we keep for the LLC.
Reportable transactions: why a year with no income is still a year to file
A transaction makes the year reportable, whatever the LLC earned. For an LLC with one foreign owner the regulations name the amounts paid or received for its formation, dissolution, acquisition and disposition, and every contribution to it and distribution from it.
The regulations give an example. A foreign owner forms an LLC and contributes assets in year 1, adds funds in year 2, receives a payment in year 3 and takes the assets in liquidation in year 4. Each of the four years carries a Form 5472.
- Part IV: dealings paid in money only, line by line: goods, rents and royalties, services, commissions, loans and interest.
- Part V: for a foreign-owned LLC only, a box and an attached statement for every other transaction, such as formation costs, contributions and payouts.
- Part VI: dealings paid in kind or for less than full value, on a statement with their estimated fair market value.
Three rules of the instructions shorten the work. An amount of $50,000 or less on a Part IV line may be entered as “$50,000 or less”. An estimate between 75% and 125% of an amount that cannot be determined counts as reasonable. Every amount is in US dollars, with the exchange rates on a schedule.
Only a year in which nothing moved needs no form: the instructions exempt a foreign-owned LLC with no transaction of the kinds in Parts IV, V and VI.
Form 5472 instructions for a single-member LLC, part by part
A single-member LLC with a foreign owner fills Parts I, II, III and VII. Its transactions go in Part IV or Part V, and Part VI takes what was paid in kind. Parts VIII and IX, on cost sharing and base erosion payments, stay blank for most founders' LLCs.
| Part and lines | What the LLC enters |
|---|---|
| Part I, lines 1a to 1e | Name, address, EIN, total assets at the year end, business activity and its code |
| Part I, lines 1f to 1h | The value of the transactions on this form and on all its Forms 5472, Part V included; 1g counts the forms, one for each related party |
| Part I, lines 1j, 1l to 1o and 3 | 1j in the first year of filing; country and date of formation; countries of business, never “worldwide”; line 3 for a foreign-owned disregarded entity |
| Part II | The foreign owner, with a US number if any (SSN or ITIN for a person, EIN for a company) or else a reference ID number, and a foreign tax number or “None” |
| Part III | The related party of the transactions, even when it is the owner named in Part II |
| Part IV | Lines 9 to 21 for amounts received, 23 to 35 for amounts paid, totals on lines 22 and 36 |
| Parts V and VI | A box each, and the statement attached |
| Part VII | Questions on imports, cost sharing, hybrid payments and safe-haven loans |
The LLC sets the reference ID number itself, with no request to the IRS: up to 50 letters and figures, no spaces, the same for that owner every year. An owner with an ITIN enters it instead; a person applies for one on Form W-7.
The pro forma Form 1120: the return a foreign-owned LLC attaches Form 5472 to
A Form 5472 travels attached to an income tax return. A disregarded LLC has none, so it files a Form 1120, the corporate return, with four items filled in: the pro forma Form 1120. “Foreign-owned U.S. DE” is written across the top, and the LLC completes:
- The name of the LLC.
- Its address.
- Item B, its employer identification number (EIN).
- Item E, the boxes for an initial return, a final return, a change of name and a change of address.
The income and tax lines stay blank. The LLC's tax year is its owner's tax year for US filings, or the calendar year when the owner files nothing in the USA.
Neither form goes out without an EIN. An owner abroad with no SSN applies on Form SS-4, the step after the state filing in company formation in the USA.
We do this for you Accounting services in the USA books, federal returns and state filings
Worked example: Form 5472 for the first year of an LLC
A founder living abroad, with no SSN or ITIN, forms a Delaware LLC in March 2026 and is its only member. The LLC makes no sales in 2026. Three payments pass between the LLC and its owner in the year.
| In 2026 | Amount | On the form |
|---|---|---|
| The owner pays into the LLC's bank account | $10,000 | Part V statement, as a contribution |
| The LLC pays the owner | $4,000 | Part V statement, as a distribution |
| The LLC pays the owner's personal phone bill | $600 | Part V statement, as a payment for the owner |
| Total value of the transactions | $14,600 | Part I, lines 1f and 1h |
Part IV stays empty: no goods, services, rents, loans or interest passed between the two. Line 1c shows total assets of $5,400 at 31 December, the $10,000 paid in less the $4,600 paid out. Line 1g is 1, and lines 1j and 3 are checked.
Part II and Part III both name the owner, line 4b(2) carries the reference ID number the LLC chose, and box 8e is marked “25% foreign shareholder”. The pro forma Form 1120 carries the name, address, EIN and the initial return box. Both are due on 15 April 2027.
Form 5472 due date, extension and where to send it
| Step | Rule |
|---|---|
| Due date | The 15th day of the 4th month after the tax year ends: 15 April for a calendar year |
| Extension | Form 7004 by the regular due date, with the Form 1120 code on line 1 of Part I and “Foreign-owned U.S. DE” across the top: 6 months more, to 15 October |
| By fax | 855-887-7737, at 300 DPI or higher |
| By post | Internal Revenue Service, 1973 Rulon White Blvd, M/S 6112, Attn: PIN Unit, Ogden, UT 84201 |
| Online | Closed to a foreign-owned disregarded entity |
The fax number and the address are reserved for these filers, and Form 7004 goes to them too. We prepare both forms from the ledger. You sign them in your account, our US tax partner signs as paid preparer, and we fax them and keep the fax report with the company's documents.
State filings run on their own dates. A Delaware LLC pays a $400 tax by 1 June, and a corporation owes franchise tax by 1 March, as our guide to Delaware franchise tax works out.
Form 5472 penalty: $25,000 a year, then $25,000 for each 30 days after a notice
| Failure | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Form 5472 not filed when due, or not in the manner prescribed | $25,000 |
| A substantially incomplete form | Treated as not filed: $25,000 |
| Records not kept as the regulations require | $25,000 |
| The failure goes on more than 90 days after the IRS mails a notice | $25,000 more for each 30 days, or part of 30 days, that follow |
| Information not submitted, or false or fraudulent information | Criminal penalties under sections 7203, 7206 and 7207 |
The statute counts the penalty for each tax year with a failure, so three missing years cost $75,000 before any notice. After a notice, a form still missing 150 days later adds two 30-day periods, $50,000, to that year's $25,000.
The statute also moves the deadline, and the start of the 90 days, to the last day on which reasonable cause for the failure existed. The LLC shows that cause to the IRS in a written statement.
Missed Form 5472 for an earlier year: how to file it late
Under the IRS procedure for late international information returns, a filer the IRS has not contacted, and that is not under examination, files through the normal route. For a foreign-owned LLC, that is a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 for each missing year.
Each late form may carry a statement of reasonable cause, and the IRS can assess the penalty before it reads the statement. We sign Form 8821 with you to read the LLC's IRS record and rebuild each missing year from the bank statements. We prepare the forms and answer the letters that follow with our US tax partner.
From the first year, our US accounting services book each transfer between the LLC and its owner on the day it happens. The form for the year then comes straight from the ledger.
