When Form 5472 Is Not Your Only Problem: Five Setups That File More
Summary
The single-owner, run-from-abroad LLC files Form 5472 and a pro forma 1120. Change the ownership or the way the business runs, and other returns come in. Five setups that do it.
Most pages on this site describe one setup: a US single-member LLC owned by one person abroad, run from abroad. It files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 each year and usually nothing else federal. Change any of the five things below and the picture changes, sometimes completely.
The LLC has two or more owners
An LLC with two or more members is a partnership for US tax by default, not a disregarded entity. It does not file a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472. Its core federal return is a partnership return, Form 1065, with a schedule for each partner, and foreign partners bring their own withholding and reporting rules when the partnership has US business income.
Adding a co-founder, even a spouse or a small shareholder, moves the LLC into this group. That LLC files a partnership return, Form 1065, not the Form 5472 package.
The LLC elected to be taxed as a corporation
An LLC that filed Form 8832 to be taxed as a corporation is no longer disregarded. It files a full Form 1120 each year, reporting its own income and paying corporate tax on it, and attaches Form 5472 if it is 25% or more foreign-owned. The Form 5472 still exists; the pro forma shortcut does not.
A US person is among the owners
If one owner is a US citizen, green card holder or US resident, the LLC is not a single foreign-owned disregarded entity. The rules for the US owner, and for any foreign companies that owner holds, come into play, including returns this site does not cover, such as Form 5471 for a US person's foreign company.
The business operates in the US
US staff, a US office, a US warehouse, or someone in the US regularly acting for the business can create a US trade or business. Then income tax, not just information reporting, is on the table: the owner may file a personal return such as Form 1040-NR, and other filings can follow. The personal US return page explains where the line usually falls.
The LLC deals with your other companies
A single-owner LLC that buys goods from, lends to, or pays for services from your own company abroad still files Form 5472, but with a second form for that company, and the prices between them should be what unrelated parties would agree. Imports from a related company also bring questions about customs values. The paperwork is Form 5472; the work is pricing.
What stays the same
In setups 2 and 5 the Form 5472 is still there, sometimes several of them. In all five, the penalty for a missing Form 5472, where one is due, is $25,000 per form, per year. What changes is how much else surrounds it.
Where these setups go
Each of the five is outside what an automated Form 5472 tool should prepare, and FileTax's eligibility check turns away multi-member LLCs, US owners, corporate elections and related-company goods for that reason. A qualified CPA review is the right starting point for any of them.
If none of the five applies to you, the simple path does: FileTax prepares the Form 5472 and pro forma Form 1120 in under 15 minutes for $99 per year, and the CPA vs DIY page helps if you are unsure which side of the line you are on.
Questions about these setups
My spouse and I both own the LLC. Is it a single-member LLC?
For US tax it generally has two members and is treated as a partnership unless an election or a specific rule says otherwise. Get advice before filing as a single-member LLC.
Does Form 5472 disappear if we have two owners?
For a multi-member LLC taxed as a partnership, the pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 is not the filing. The partnership return replaces it.
I filed Form 8832 years ago and forgot. What now?
Then the LLC has been a corporation for tax since the election took effect and owes full Forms 1120. That needs a CPA to put right.
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.
Do You Also File a Personal US Return? Form 1040-NR for LLC Owners →
Most foreign owners who run the business from abroad file no personal US return; the LLC files Form 5472. Work done while in the US, or a US office or staff, can change that.
CPA vs DIY for Form 5472 - When to Self-File and When to Get Help →
Form 5472 can be self-prepared for simple cases. Some situations call for CPA review. This guide covers when each path makes sense for foreign-owned LLC owners.