Form 5472: the yearly filing every foreign-owned LLC owes

If you live outside the US and own a single-member LLC, the IRS expects an information return from the LLC: Form 5472, attached to a pro forma Form 1120. It applies even though the LLC has no income tax return of its own. This guide follows the current Instructions for Form 5472, revised December 2024.

Still setting up? Start with how to open a US LLC as a non-resident and which state to pick.

Who has to file

By default, the IRS treats an LLC with one member as a “disregarded entity” (DE) for income tax: it isn’t treated as separate from its owner. When that owner is a foreign person, such as an individual who is not a US citizen or resident, the instructions call the LLC a foreign-owned U.S. DE.

Final regulations under section 6038A treat a foreign-owned U.S. DE as a separate entity, classified as a corporation for the limited purposes of the section 6038A rules that apply to 25% foreign-owned US corporations. That’s why an LLC that is otherwise disregarded files a corporate form.

What you file

• Form 5472, attached to a pro forma Form 1120.
• On the Form 1120, the only information required is the LLC’s name and address and items B and E on page 1. Item B is the EIN. Item E holds the boxes for initial return, final return, name change and address change.
• Write “Foreign-owned U.S. DE” across the top of the Form 1120.
• On Form 5472, check the box on line 3 and report yourself, the owner, in Part II.
• The LLC uses the same tax year its owner uses for US tax filing or, if the owner has none, the calendar year.

What counts as a reportable transaction

Form 5472 reports transactions between the LLC and related parties. You, reported as the LLC’s 25% foreign shareholder, are one.

Besides monetary transactions such as sales and rents (Part IV) and nonmonetary ones (Part VI), a foreign-owned U.S. DE reports in Part V amounts paid or received in connection with the formation, dissolution, acquisition and disposition of the entity, including contributions to and distributions from it. You describe these on an attached statement.

A quiet year doesn’t exempt you on its own. The instructions only excuse a foreign-owned U.S. DE from filing if it had no reportable transactions of the types in Parts IV, V and VI.

When it’s due

Form 5472 goes in with the pro forma Form 1120, by the Form 1120’s due date (including extensions). The Form 1120 instructions set that date, generally, at the 15th day of the 4th month after the end of the tax year: April 15 for a calendar tax year.

To get more time (generally 6 months, per the Form 7004 instructions), file Form 7004 by the regular due date:

• Enter the code for Form 1120 on Form 7004, Part I, line 1.
• Write “Foreign-owned U.S. DE” across the top.
• Fax or mail it to the dedicated number or address below, not the regular Form 7004 address.

How to send it

You can’t e-file. The instructions say a foreign-owned U.S. DE cannot file Form 5472 electronically. Use the dedicated fax or mailing address, not the one in the Form 1120 instructions:

• Fax (300 DPI or higher): 855-887-7737
• Mail: Internal Revenue Service, 1973 Rulon White Blvd, M/S 6112 Attn: PIN Unit, Ogden, UT 84201

The penalty

The IRS assesses a $25,000 penalty on a reporting corporation that fails to file Form 5472 when due and in the manner prescribed. The instructions add that:

• Filing a substantially incomplete Form 5472 counts as failing to file.
• If the failure continues more than 90 days after the IRS notifies you, there’s an additional $25,000 for each related party, for each 30-day period (or part of one) that it continues.

You need an EIN first

Item B on the pro forma Form 1120 is the LLC’s EIN, and the Form 1120 instructions say that a corporation without one must apply for one. The Form SS-4 instructions cover this case: on line 9a, check “Other” and write “Foreign-owned U.S. disregarded entity-Form 5472”. Here’s how to get an EIN without an SSN.

Do I owe US income tax?

That’s separate from Form 5472 and depends on what you do. At a high level, the IRS says:

• If a single-member LLC doesn’t elect to be treated as a corporation, its activities should be reflected on its owner’s federal tax return.
• When a foreign person is engaged in a trade or business in the United States, the US-source income connected with that business is generally “effectively connected income” (ECI), which is taxable in the US.
• Foreign persons are generally engaged in a US trade or business when they perform personal services in the US, but the activities must be “considerable, continuous and regular”.
• ECI is taxed, after allowable deductions, at the same graduated rates that apply to US citizens and residents. US-source FDAP income (fixed, determinable, annual or periodical) is taxed at a flat 30% or a lower treaty rate.
• A nonresident alien engaged in a US trade or business during the year must file a return, on Form 1040-NR.

Whether your activity counts as a US trade or business depends on the facts, so confirm with an accountant who works with non-residents.

Getting help with the filing

Some formation services offer help with this filing. If you use one, confirm what they will file and by when.

Sources

• Instructions for Form 5472 (Rev. December 2024)
• About Form 5472
• Instructions for Form 1120 (2025)
• Instructions for Form 7004 (Rev. December 2025)
• Instructions for Form SS-4 (Rev. December 2025)
• Single member limited liability companies
• Effectively connected income (ECI)
• Taxation of nonresident aliens

Accessed October 9, 2026.