Form 843 for a Form 5472 Penalty, Line by Line

Form 843 is the form you use after the IRS has assessed a Form 5472 penalty, which usually means a CP15 or CP215 is in your hands. If no notice has arrived, you do not need it: the reasonable cause statement goes straight onto the late return instead, as the missed Form 5472 page explains.

Have these in front of you before starting: the notice, the LLC's EIN, the tax year the notice names, and a finished reasonable cause statement.

Before Form 843: file the missing return

If the Form 5472 for the year on the notice has not been filed, file it first, or in the same envelope. Form 843 argues about a penalty that has already been assessed; it does not stop anything growing. Under IRC §6038A(d)(2), once 90 days have passed from the notice, another $25,000 accrues for each 30-day period the failure continues, and only filing the return stops that.

Filling in Form 843 (Rev. December 2024)

At the very top, the form asks for your reason for filing. Under Penalty, tick "Abatement or refund of a penalty or addition to tax due to reasonable cause or other reason allowed under the law."

Below that, enter the LLC's name, EIN and address as they appear on the notice. Then:

1. Line 1, tax period. The beginning and ending dates of the year on the notice, for example 01/01/2024 to 12/31/2024. One Form 843 covers one period, so a notice for two years needs two forms.
2. Line 2, amount. The penalty amount the notice shows for that year. If continuation amounts have been added, use the total on the notice and explain the parts in the statement.
3. Line 3, payment dates. Leave it blank unless you have already paid the penalty and are asking for it back.
4. Line 4, type of tax. Tick g, Civil penalty. The Form 5472 penalty is assessed as a civil penalty in its own right, which is how a CP215 describes it, rather than as an addition to an income tax bill.
5. Line 5, type of return. Tick j, 1120, the return the Form 5472 was attached to.
6. Line 6, Internal Revenue Code section. Enter 6038A(d)(1) for the base penalty. If the notice includes continuation amounts, add 6038A(d)(2). The section is usually printed on the notice itself.
7. Line 7, reason. Tick box c, reasonable cause or other reason allowed under the law.
8. Line 8, explanation. Two or three sentences and a pointer to the attachment, for example: "The reporting corporation is a foreign-owned U.S. disregarded entity. Its owner did not know the Form 5472 requirement existed when the return was due, and filed it promptly after learning of it. A statement of reasonable cause under IRC §6664(c) is attached."

Sign and date it. The signer is the LLC's owner, as the person responsible for the entity.

What goes in the envelope

• Form 843, one per tax year.
• The reasonable cause statement. This is where the case is made: who the owner is and where they live, how the LLC was formed, why the return was missed, when and how the owner learned of the requirement, and what they did next. The penalty abatement letter page sets out what it has to contain. Examiners apply the ordinary business care and prudence framework in IRM 20.1.1.3.6.1, so the statement should answer that test.
• A copy of the notice.
• The late Form 5472 and pro forma Form 1120, if they have not already been sent.
• Supporting documents that back up the timeline: formation papers, the EIN letter, and anything dated that shows when you learned of the requirement, such as a bank's request.

Where Form 843 goes

Send Form 843 to the address printed on the notice. If the notice gives none, the Form 843 instructions point to the place where you would file that year's return for that type of tax; for a foreign-owned LLC that is the IRS PIN Unit at 1973 Rulon White Blvd, M/S 6112, Ogden, UT 84201. A late Form 5472 always goes to the PIN Unit, by mail or by fax to 855-887-7737.

Use a method that gives you proof of sending, and keep a full copy of everything.

After it is sent

The IRS reviews the statement and writes back with a decision. If the request is refused, the letter explains your appeal rights and the time limit for using them. Keep the notice, the Form 843, the statement and the proof of sending together, because any later correspondence will refer to them.

If more than one year is missing, you can file every missed year as one job, with one reasonable cause letter covering all of them.

A case with several years assessed, related parties beyond the owner, or an IRS position already set out in writing is where a qualified CPA review is the appropriate next step. For simple cases, FileTax prepares the missing Form 5472 and pro forma Form 1120 for $99 per year, and a CPA-authored reasonable cause letter covering every year for $199.

Questions about Form 843

Can I file Form 843 before the IRS sends a notice?

No. Form 843 asks the IRS to remove a penalty already assessed. Before an assessment, the statement goes with the late Form 5472 itself.

One notice covers two years. One Form 843 or two?

Two. The instructions generally require a separate Form 843 for each tax period.

Does Form 843 stop the continuation penalty?

No. Only filing the missing Form 5472 stops it. Form 843 addresses what has already been assessed.

Which box do I tick on line 4 for a Form 5472 penalty?

Box g, Civil penalty. The penalty for a missing Form 5472 is a standalone civil penalty, not an addition to income tax, and line 5 then identifies the Form 1120 it relates to.

Can I send the late Form 5472 in the same envelope?

If the notice address and the PIN Unit address are the same office, yes. If they differ, send the Form 5472 to the PIN Unit and say in the statement that it was sent, and when.

Related pages

Continue reading

• CP215 or CP15 for a Foreign-Owned LLC: Reading the Notice →

  The notice date starts a 90-day clock; after it, another $25,000 can accrue every 30 days until the missing Form 5472 is filed. File the return first, then ask for abatement on Form 843.

• Form 5472 Penalty Abatement Letter: What It Must Contain →

  A Form 5472 penalty abatement letter is a written reasonable cause statement asking the IRS to remove the $25,000 late-filing penalty. What it has to contain, and how it is filed.

• $25,000 IRS Penalty for Foreign LLC - What to Do Right Now →

  The $25,000 IRS penalty under §6038A applies to foreign-owned US LLCs that miss their annual Form 5472 filing. Filing voluntarily before any IRS notice is the strongest defense.