⚠ IRS Warning

The IRS penalty for a missing Form 5472 starts at $25,000 per form per year. Every unfiled year adds another.

Filing on TimeSeptember 17, 2026

Form 5472 Deadline: April 15, or October 15 With Form 7004

Summary

Form 5472 is due on the 15th day of the fourth month after the tax year ends: April 15 for almost every foreign-owned LLC. A Form 7004 sent by that date moves it to October 15.

Tax yearNormal deadlineWith Form 7004
2025 (calendar year)April 15, 2026October 15, 2026
2026 (calendar year)April 15, 2027October 15, 2027

Those four dates answer most searches about the Form 5472 deadline. For a foreign-owned single-member LLC, Form 5472 travels attached to a pro forma Form 1120, and the Form 1120 due date is the Form 5472 due date. The rest of this page covers the cases where the dates are less obvious: a first year that started in the middle of the year, an extension sent late, and what happens once a deadline has already passed.

Which tax year your LLC is on

The Instructions for Form 5472 say a foreign-owned US disregarded entity "has the same tax year used by its owner for U.S. tax filing requirements or, if none, the calendar year." A founder who lives outside the US and files nothing else with the IRS has no US tax year, so the LLC runs January 1 to December 31.

That settles the deadline. A calendar-year return is due on the 15th day of the fourth month after December 31, which is April 15. Nothing about the owner's home country changes it: an Indian owner whose own financial year ends on March 31, or an Australian owner whose year ends on June 30, still has an LLC whose US year ends on December 31.

The October 15 extension, and how to get it

Form 7004 is the IRS form that extends the time to file. For a calendar-year LLC it moves the Form 5472 deadline from April 15 to October 15, six months later. The extension is automatic: the IRS does not approve or reject it, and no reason is needed.

Three conditions make it work:

  1. It has to arrive by the original due date. The instructions are explicit that a foreign-owned US DE sends Form 7004 "by the due date (excluding extensions) of the return." A Form 7004 sent on April 20 extends nothing.
  2. It goes to the same place as the return. The Form 5472 instructions direct the foreign-owned DE to fax Form 7004 to 855-887-7737 or mail it to the PIN Unit in Ogden, the same destination as the filing itself. It cannot be e-filed, because a foreign-owned DE cannot file Form 5472 electronically at all. The address is on the where to send Form 5472 page.
  3. It extends the whole packet. Form 7004 is filed for the pro forma Form 1120, and Form 5472 is an attachment to that return, so one extension covers both. There is no separate extension for Form 5472.

Form 7004 extends the time to file, not the time to pay. For almost every foreign-owned LLC that distinction does not matter, because the pro forma Form 1120 computes no tax, so there is nothing to pay.

Your first year, if the LLC was formed mid-year

An LLC formed on June 3, 2025 does not wait a full year for its first return. Its first tax year runs from June 3 to December 31, 2025, and the return for that short year is due on April 15, 2026, the same date as everyone else's.

Two consequences follow. The first return often arrives sooner than founders expect, sometimes within months of forming. And the short year still counts as a year: money the owner put into the LLC to open the bank account, or formation fees the owner paid for it, are usually reportable transactions in that first year. The reportable transactions page lists what counts.

If the deadline has already passed

A missed April 15 cannot be repaired with Form 7004 afterwards. Once the original due date has gone, the return is late, and the only thing left to decide is how to file it.

Filing late voluntarily, before the IRS writes to you, is the stronger position. Under IRC §6038A(d)(1), the penalty for a late or missing Form 5472 is $25,000 per form, and what reduces the chance of it sticking is filing before any notice, with a reasonable cause statement attached. The penalty page covers the first steps in order, and several missed years can be filed together as one job through past filings.

The other dates that sit near April 15

Form 5472 is the federal filing. It is not the only date in the year, and it is easy to confuse with the others:

  • State annual reports have their own dates set by the state of formation, and some fall in the spring. They are unrelated to the IRS.
  • Delaware LLC annual tax is due June 1.
  • The owner's own home-country return follows the home country's calendar, not the US one.

The annual compliance calendar sets all of them out month by month.

If your LLC has a single foreign owner and ordinary transactions with that owner, FileTax prepares the Form 5472 and pro forma Form 1120 packet in under 15 minutes for $99 per year, with Form 7004 generated inside the package when you need the extension.

Questions people ask about the Form 5472 deadline

Is the Form 5472 deadline different from the Form 1120 deadline?

No. Form 5472 is filed as an attachment to the pro forma Form 1120, by that return's due date including extensions. For a calendar-year foreign-owned LLC that is April 15, or October 15 with Form 7004.

What is the Form 5472 deadline for 2026?

The return for the 2025 tax year was due April 15, 2026, and is due October 15, 2026 if a Form 7004 was sent by April 15. The return for the 2026 tax year is due April 15, 2027, or October 15, 2027 with Form 7004.

Can I file Form 7004 after April 15?

No. Form 7004 only works if it reaches the IRS by the original due date. After that date the return is simply late, and the question becomes how to file it late, not how to extend it.

Does a foreign-owned LLC need to pay anything by April 15?

Usually not. The pro forma Form 1120 computes no tax, so nothing is due with it. An LLC with income effectively connected with a US business is a different situation and has its own filing and payment rules.

What if April 15 falls on a weekend?

A deadline that falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday moves to the next business day. April 15 is a Wednesday in 2026 and a Thursday in 2027, so neither year is affected.

← Back to Resources