Form 5472, explained for the foreign-owned US LLC.
The yearly IRS information return for a US LLC wholly owned by someone abroad: who files it, what it reports, when it is due, what the penalty is, and what each part of the form asks. Read from the IRS instructions on 14 October 2026.
Facts on this page last checked against official sources on
- IRS instructions Rev. December 2024
- Due 15 April for a calendar year
- Sent by fax or mail
In short
A US LLC wholly owned by a foreign person files Form 5472, attached to a pro-forma Form 1120, for each tax year in which it has a reportable transaction with a related party. Money its owner puts in or takes out is reportable. It is due on the 15th day of the 4th month after the tax year, goes to the IRS by fax or mail, and the penalty for a form not filed when due is $25,000.
An information return, filed by the company.
Form 5472 reports transactions between a reporting corporation and its related parties, under sections 6038A and 6038C of the tax code. A reporting corporation is a 25% foreign-owned US corporation, including a foreign-owned US disregarded entity, or a foreign corporation engaged in a US trade or business.
A single-member US LLC is a disregarded entity for income tax. When its one owner is a foreign person, the IRS treats it as a separate entity, classified as a corporation for these reporting rules only, for tax years beginning on or after 1 January 2017 and ending on or after 13 December 2017. That is why a company with no US income tax return still files this form.
Who counts as foreign, and who counts as related.
- Foreign person: an individual who is not a US citizen or resident, a company not created or organized in the US, or a foreign estate or trust, among others.
- 25% foreign shareholder: a foreign person who owns, directly or indirectly, at least 25% of the voting power or value. The single foreign owner of a US LLC owns 100%.
- Related party: any direct or indirect 25% foreign shareholder, and persons related to the company or to that shareholder under the code's related-party rules.
- One form per related party: the company files a separate Form 5472 for each related party it had a reportable transaction with.
Money in from the owner, and money out to the owner.
A reportable transaction is any type of transaction listed in Part IV of the form, such as sales, rents or loans paid for in money, any transaction listed in Part V, or any listed in Part VI.
Part V is the one written for the foreign-owned US LLC. It covers amounts paid or received in connection with the formation, dissolution, acquisition and disposition of the entity, including contributions to it and distributions from it. Forming the company and funding its bank account are both in it.
A year with no reportable transactions of the types in Parts IV, V and VI needs no Form 5472.
A cover return with four items completed.
A foreign-owned US LLC has no income tax return of its own to file, so the instructions have it file a pro-forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached. The only Form 1120 information required is the company's name and address and items B and E on the first page, with "Foreign-owned U.S. DE" written across the top.
The company uses its owner's US tax year or, when the owner has none, the calendar year.
Due on the 15th day of the 4th month.
The pro-forma 1120 and its Form 5472 are due by the Form 1120 due date, including extensions: the 15th day of the 4th month after the tax year ends. For a calendar year that is 15 April; for tax year 2026, 15 April 2027.
When more time is needed, Form 7004 sent by the regular due date gives an automatic extension of time to file, generally 6 months. The extension section explains how it works for a foreign-owned US LLC.
Need more time? The extension (Form 7004).
A foreign-owned US LLC that needs more time asks for it on Form 7004, the IRS application for an automatic extension of time to file business returns. The Form 5472 instructions say the company must file Form 7004 by the regular due date of the return: 15 April for a calendar year.
Because the company's Form 5472 rides on a pro-forma Form 1120, the Form 7004 names Form 1120 as the return being extended and has “Foreign-owned U.S. DE” written across the top. The extension is automatic when Form 7004 is completed properly and filed on time, and the automatic period is generally 6 months. For a calendar year, that moves the filing date from 15 April to 15 October.
- It extends filing, not paying. The Form 7004 instructions say the form does not extend the time to pay any tax due. The company's pro-forma 1120 carries only its name and address and items B and E, so for this filing the extension is about the date the forms are sent.
- Sent by fax or mail, like Form 5472. Form 7004 can be filed electronically for most returns, but the Form 5472 instructions direct a foreign-owned US LLC to fax or mail its Form 7004 to the same dedicated fax number or address used for Form 5472, and not to the regular Form 7004 address.
- One Form 7004 per return. The instructions call for a separate Form 7004 for each return, and it needs no signature.
- The penalty date moves with it. Form 5472 is due by the Form 1120 due date including extensions, so with a timely Form 7004 the form is on time up to the extended date.
| Step | Without an extension | With Form 7004 |
|---|---|---|
| Form 7004 sent by | — | 15 April 2027 |
| Form 5472 + pro-forma 1120 due | 15 April 2027 | 15 October 2027 |
| How both are sent | Fax or mail | Fax or mail |
SAMPLE · NOT A CLIENT. Dates from the 15th-day-of-the-4th-month rule in the Form 1120 instructions and the 6-month automatic extension in the Form 7004 instructions.
By fax or by mail.
The instructions state that a foreign-owned US LLC sends Form 5472 by fax or by mail, to a dedicated IRS fax number and mailing address printed in the instructions, and that this form is filed on paper rather than electronically. The IRS instructions carry the current fax number and address.
The form, part by part.
The IRS instructions run part by part. For a foreign-owned US LLC, this is what each part covers.
For a walk-through of each line, read the Form 5472 instructions, line by line.
| Part | What it asks | For a foreign-owned US LLC |
|---|---|---|
| Part I | The reporting corporation: its name and address, and the total value of related-party transactions on this form and on all Forms 5472 filed for the year | The LLC's own details; the box for a foreign-owned U.S. DE is checked |
| Part II | The 25% foreign shareholder: name, address, country, US identifying number if any, reference ID number if required | The foreign owner. Also each direct and ultimate foreign owner's foreign tax identification number (FTIN), if any |
| Part III | The related party the transactions were with | Completed even when that party is the owner already named in Part II |
| Part IV | Monetary transactions with a foreign related party, line by line: sales, rents, amounts borrowed and loaned, interest and other amounts | Amounts in US dollars; reasonable estimates (75% to 125% of the actual amount) when exact figures can't be set; amounts up to $50,000 may be shown as "$50,000 or less" |
| Part V | Other transactions of a foreign-owned US DE | Formation, dissolution, acquisition and disposition amounts, contributions and distributions, described on an attached statement |
| Part VI | Nonmonetary and less-than-full-consideration transactions with a foreign related party | A schedule describing each transaction and its approximate value |
| Part VII | Additional information all reporting corporations complete | Lines 43a and 43b are left for domestic corporations |
| Part VIII | Cost sharing arrangements | Only where the company is a controlled participant in one |
Two identifiers do a lot of work here. Where the owner has no US identifying number, the company assigns a reference ID number of its own, up to 50 letters and digits, used consistently every year, with no IRS application needed. The FTIN is the tax number the owner's own country issued.
Every amount is stated in US dollars, with a schedule of the exchange rates used.
$25,000 for a form not filed when due.
The instructions set a $25,000 penalty on a reporting corporation that fails to file Form 5472 when due and in the manner prescribed. A substantially incomplete form counts as a failure to file, and the same penalty applies to a failure to keep the records the regulations require.
If a failure continues more than 90 days after the IRS notifies the company, a further $25,000 applies for each related party, for each 30-day period or part of one that the failure continues after those 90 days. Criminal penalties may also apply for failing to submit information or for false information.
Each tax year has its own Form 5472, so each year is its own filing. The worked example shows the base amount by number of years, before any continuation penalty.
| Years not filed | Base penalty per year | Base total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | $25,000 |
| 2 | $25,000 | $50,000 |
| 3 | $25,000 | $75,000 |
SAMPLE · NOT A CLIENT. Arithmetic on the IRS figure of $25,000 per form; continuation penalties after an IRS notice are added on top.
The books behind the form.
The company keeps permanent books of account sufficient to establish that its federal return is correct, including records relevant to its transactions with related parties. Monthly US bookkeeping keeps those records, and the owner transactions Part V asks for, as the year runs.
Form 5472 filing, $449 per tax year.
Form 5472 is due every year your LLC has transactions with you, so we file it each year. Add the state annual report and registered agent renewal for $149 a year plus the state's own fee at cost: we pass on exactly what the state charges, no markup, as its own line on your quote. Monthly US bookkeeping keeps the figures ready for each year's filing.
Form 5472 filing: $449 per tax year
- Pro-forma 1120 with Form 5472 attached
- Owner transactions listed for Part V
- Form 7004 when more time is needed, sent by the regular due date
Form 5472 questions.
Answered from the official pages listed under Sources, with the date we read them.
Does a US LLC with no income file Form 5472?
Income isn't the test; reportable transactions are. Money the owner puts in or takes out is a Part V transaction, so a year with either has a Form 5472, sales or no sales.
Who files it?
The company files it, under its own EIN, by fax or mail to the IRS fax number or address in the instructions.
Does the owner need an SSN or ITIN for Form 5472?
Part II asks for a US identifying number "if any". With none, the company enters a reference ID number it assigns itself, plus the owner's foreign tax identification number if the owner has one.
What is the difference between Form 5472 and Form 5471?
Form 5472 is filed by a US company with foreign ownership, or a foreign company in a US business. Form 5471 is filed by US persons about certain foreign corporations.
Can I get an extension for Form 5472?
Yes. Form 7004, filed by the regular due date (15 April for a calendar year), gives an automatic extension of time to file, generally 6 months: to 15 October for a calendar year. It names Form 1120 as the return, carries “Foreign-owned U.S. DE” across the top, and goes by fax or mail to the same dedicated fax number or address as Form 5472.
Does the extension give more time to pay?
No. The Form 7004 instructions say it extends the time to file, not the time to pay any tax due. A foreign-owned US LLC's pro-forma 1120 carries only its name, address and items B and E, so for this filing the extension moves the date the forms are sent.
Can I file Form 5472 online for free?
Form 5472 for a foreign-owned US LLC isn't filed online at all: the IRS instructions say a foreign-owned US disregarded entity cannot file it electronically, and send it by fax or mail with its pro-forma 1120. The instructions list no IRS filing fee. IRS Free File's Fillable Forms list covers Form 1040, the individual return, and its schedules; Form 1120 and Form 5472 aren't on it.
How do I fill in Form 5472?
Part by part, from the IRS instructions: the company in Part I, the foreign owner in Part II, the related party in Part III, and the owner's money in and out in Part V. The Form 5472 instructions, line by line walks through each part.
Sources
- IRS — Instructions for Form 5472 (Rev. December 2024) · read 14 Oct 2026
- IRS — Instructions for Form 1120: when to file · read 14 Oct 2026
- IRS — Instructions for Form 7004 (Rev. December 2025) · read 14 Oct 2026
- IRS — Instructions for Form SS-4 (Rev. December 2025): EIN of a foreign-owned disregarded entity · read 14 Oct 2026
- IRS — Instructions for Form 5472 (12/2024): extension of time to file and electronic filing for foreign-owned U.S. DEs (page updated 30-Apr-2026) · read 24 Oct 2026
- IRS — Instructions for Form 7004 (12/2025): purpose, extension period, payment of tax, signature (page updated 30-Apr-2026) · read 24 Oct 2026
- IRS — Instructions for Form 1120 (2025): when to file (page updated 30-Apr-2026) · read 24 Oct 2026
- IRS — IRS Free File: do your taxes for free (page updated 21-Oct-2026) · read 24 Oct 2026
- IRS — Free File Fillable Forms: program limitations and available forms (Form 1040 family; no Form 1120 or 5472; page updated 11-Sep-2026) · read 24 Oct 2026
Tell us which years your company has been open.
We keep the books each month and prepare each year's Form 5472 and pro-forma 1120 from them; your written quote lists every open year.
Thanks, your quote request is with us.
We reply by email within 1 business day. A confirmation is on its way to your inbox.
Prefer to talk first?
You pay after you accept a written quote.