US LLC Owned From Pakistan: The Wealth Statement and the IRS Filing
Summary
The same US LLC shows up in two places: in your FBR wealth statement, as an asset, by September 30; and in the LLC's Form 5472 to the IRS, as transactions with you, by April 15.
A Pakistani founder's US LLC is described in two documents a year, to two governments, from two different angles.
- To the FBR, the LLC is an asset you own. It goes in your wealth statement, filed with your Pakistani return by September 30 for the tax year that ended on June 30.
- To the IRS, the LLC is a reporting company, and you are its foreign related party. It files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 by April 15 for the calendar year, reporting the money that moved between it and you.
Neither document replaces the other, and the numbers in them should agree.
What goes in each
| FBR: return and wealth statement | IRS: Form 5472 and pro forma 1120 | |
|---|---|---|
| Who files | You, as a resident individual | The LLC |
| Year covered | July 1 to June 30 | January 1 to December 31 |
| Due | September 30 | April 15, or October 15 with Form 7004 |
| Describes the LLC as | An asset you hold | A company reporting its dealings with you |
| Currency | Rupees | US dollars |
Residents with foreign income of USD 10,000 or more, or foreign assets worth USD 100,000 or more, also file a separate statement of foreign income and assets with the FBR. An active LLC can cross either line.
Why the US filing exists at all
A Pakistani owner often hears that the LLC owes nothing in the US because it has no US office or customers. That may be true for income tax. It is not the test for Form 5472. A US single-member LLC with a foreign owner is treated as a corporation for this reporting under Treas. Reg. §301.7701-2(c)(2)(vi), and it must report its transactions with that owner under IRC §6038A. Income is irrelevant; transactions are what count.
The US-Pakistan income tax convention of 1957 is in force, and it deals with how income is taxed. It does not touch information returns, so it does not remove Form 5472.
A Lahore freelancer, in both years
Bilal is a developer in Lahore. He formed a New Mexico LLC in January 2025 so US clients could pay a US company, and receives the payouts through a US bank account and Payoneer.
- February 2025: he pays the formation and registered agent fees, $240, from his own card.
- Through 2025: clients pay the LLC $46,000.
- Every month from April 2025: he transfers the LLC's earnings to his Pakistani account, $38,000 across the year.
The IRS side, calendar 2025. The LLC's Form 5472, due April 15, 2026, reports the $240 of fees Bilal paid for it and the $38,000 the LLC paid him. The $46,000 from clients does not appear: clients are not related parties.
The FBR side. Bilal's transfers from January to June 2025 fall in Pakistani tax year 2025, whose return and wealth statement were due September 30, 2025. The transfers from July to December 2025 fall in tax year 2026, due September 30, 2026. His interest in the LLC appears in the wealth statement for each year it is held. With foreign income well over USD 10,000, he also files the separate foreign income and assets statement.
How the LLC's earnings are taxed in Pakistan, and at what rate, depends on facts a Pakistani tax practitioner should look at. What this example shows is the sorting: one year of money, split across two Pakistani tax years and one US one.
Keep the paper trail from the start
Every transfer from the LLC to you is a line on Form 5472 and a receipt of foreign income in Pakistan. Two habits save most of the work later:
- Use the same channel each time. Transfers through a bank or payment platform leave statements showing dates and dollar amounts, which is what both returns need.
- Keep the LLC's money and yours apart. Paying the LLC's fees from a personal card is fine, but record it; it is a reportable transaction on Form 5472.
Payment platforms and US banks increasingly ask for the LLC's filed US returns during reviews; the bank proof requests page covers what to send when they do.
If US years are already open
If the LLC has existed for a year or more and no Form 5472 has gone in, every open year can be filed together with a statement explaining the delay. The penalty for a missing return is $25,000 per form under IRC §6038A(d)(1), so the catch-up is worth doing before anyone asks; the missed Form 5472 page sets out the route.
For a single-owner LLC with ordinary transactions, FileTax prepares the Form 5472 and pro forma Form 1120 packet in under 15 minutes for $99 per year. The Form 5472 guide explains each part of the form.
Questions Pakistani owners ask
My LLC has no US customers. Do I still file with the IRS?
Yes, if the LLC had a reportable transaction with you that year, such as you paying its fees or it paying you. Where the customers are does not matter.
Does filing my FBR return cover the US requirement?
No. The FBR return is yours; Form 5472 is the LLC's, filed with the IRS on paper or by fax. Each has to be filed separately.
Does the US-Pakistan tax treaty exempt the LLC from Form 5472?
No. The treaty deals with how income is taxed. Form 5472 is an information return and applies regardless.
Which dollar figures go on Form 5472?
The dollar amounts that left or entered the LLC's US account, as the bank or payment platform statements show them. Form 5472 is completed in US dollars.
Related pages
Continue reading
Form 5472: The Complete Guide for Foreign-Owned US LLCs →
A foreign-owned US single-member LLC files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 by April 15. Funding the LLC is itself reportable. Missing it costs $25,000 per form, per year.
Mercury Bank and Payoneer - Why Your US Bank May Ask for Form 5472 Proof →
US banks and payment platforms increasingly ask foreign-owned LLC owners for evidence of Form 5472 filings during periodic reviews. This guide covers what to provide.
Reportable Transactions on Form 5472: 18 Common Ones, Yes or No →
Funding the LLC, paying its fees yourself, loans and distributions are all reportable. Customer payments, suppliers and moving money between the LLC's own accounts are not.