The EIN and IRS forms · A term for founders abroad
What is Form 5472?
The yearly IRS information return a foreign-owned US company files to report transactions with its foreign owner, with a $25,000 penalty for missing it.
Checked against the IRS's instructions and the states' own rules. Reviewed by Saais Patel, compliance reviewer.
Term 44 of 105 in the glossary, filed under F.IRS: instructions for Form 5472
Form 5472, for a founder abroad.
Form 5472 reports transactions between a US company and a foreign person who owns 25% or more of it: money the owner put in, money the company paid out, and payments between them. A foreign-owned single-member LLC files it with a pro forma Form 1120, by 15 April for a calendar-year company, even in a year with no income. The money you paid to form the company is a reportable transaction in itself, so the first year counts too.
What a foreign-owned LLC fills in
- Part I: the company, as the reporting corporation.
- Part II: you, as the 25% foreign owner.
- Part III: you again, as the related party it dealt with. The IRS wants it even when Part II already names you.
- Part V: what moved between you and the company, such as the formation costs and money you put in or took out.
It can't be filed online. It goes by fax to 855-887-7737 or by post to the IRS in Ogden, Utah. Form 7004, sent by the due date, extends it six months.
The penalty for not filing, or filing late, is $25,000 per form. If the failure continues more than 90 days after the IRS gives notice, another $25,000 is added for every 30 days. It's the filing foreign owners most often miss, and it's on the compliance calendar on every plan.
Sources: IRS: instructions for Form 5472.
Read next · guide · 5 minForm 5472 and the pro forma 1120, explained for a foreign-owned LLCWhat founders ask next.
- Do I file Form 5472 if my LLC had no income?
- Yes, if any money moved between you and the company, and paying to form it counts. A foreign-owned single-member LLC almost always files every year.
- Can Form 5472 be filed electronically?
- Not by a foreign-owned disregarded entity. It goes by fax to 855-887-7737 or by post to the IRS in Ogden, Utah, with the pro forma Form 1120 in front.
- What if I missed Form 5472 in an earlier year?
- File it now, with a reasonable-cause statement if you have grounds, and expect a penalty notice. The Form 5472 guide covers late filing.
03 · See also
- The EIN and IRS formsPro forma Form 1120A mostly blank corporate tax return that a foreign-owned single-member LLC files as the cover for its Form 5472.Read the term
- US tax for an owner abroadDisregarded entityA single-member LLC the IRS ignores for income tax, treating its income as the owner's; it still files Form 5472 if the owner is foreign.Read the term
- The EIN and IRS formsReportable transactionAny exchange of money or property between a US company and its foreign owner that goes on Form 5472, including the money used to form the company.Read the term
- The EIN and IRS formsForm 7004The IRS form that gives a business six more months to file its return, including the pro forma 1120 with Form 5472; it doesn't extend time to pay.Read the term
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