Form 5472 for Foreign-Owned US LLCs: The 2026 Guide

If you're a non-resident who owns a single-member US LLC, this is the one filing you cannot ignore. Form 5472 applies even when your LLC owes zero US tax, and the penalty for missing it is $25,000. Here's exactly how it works — grounded in the current IRS instructions.

General information, not tax advice. Confirm your filing with a qualified tax professional. Source: IRS Instructions for Form 5472 (Rev. Dec 2024).

Who has to file it

Under IRS rules, a foreign-owned US disregarded entity — a single-member US LLC wholly owned by a non-US person — is "treated as a corporation" for these reporting requirements (section 6038A). That means your otherwise-invisible disregarded LLC has a real federal filing duty: Form 5472, attached to a pro-forma Form 1120.

This applies whether you owe US tax or not. The 5472 is an information report about transactions between your LLC and you (its foreign owner), not an income-tax bill.

The pro-forma 1120 part

A disregarded entity normally files no income-tax return of its own. For 5472 purposes you attach it to a "pro-forma" Form 1120 where you complete only the LLC's name and address plus a couple of header items, and write "Foreign-owned U.S. DE" across the top. It's a cover sheet for the 5472, not a full corporate return.

What counts as a "reportable transaction"

You file when there's a reportable transaction between the LLC and a related party (including you). For most solo founders these are the everyday money movements:

• Contributions — money you put into the LLC (including funding it or paying its expenses personally).
• Distributions — money you take out of the LLC.
• Loans between you and the LLC, and payments like sales, services, rent, or interest.

In practice, almost every active foreign-owned single-member LLC has reportable transactions — even just funding it counts.

Deadline and extension

Form 5472 is due with the pro-forma 1120 by the 1120 due date — generally April 15 for a calendar-year LLC. You can get an automatic extension to October 15 by filing Form 7004 by the original due date.

How to file it (this trips people up)

A foreign-owned US disregarded entity cannot e-file the 5472/pro-forma 1120. You must submit it by:

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

The penalty — why this matters

Failing to file on time, or filing a substantially incomplete form, triggers a $25,000 penalty (raised from the old $10,000). If the failure continues more than 90 days after the IRS notifies you, an additional $25,000 applies for each 30-day period after that. This is one of the harshest common penalties non-resident owners face — and it applies even if the LLC made no profit.

Bottom line

If you own a single-member US LLC as a non-resident, budget for Form 5472 every year and either file it carefully by fax/mail or use an accountant who handles cross-border filings. It's the price of the structure — and cheap compared to the penalty. New to all this? Start with do foreign-owned US LLCs pay tax? and annual compliance.