Yearly filings
Form 5472: the yearly filing for your foreign-owned single-member LLC
What Form 5472 is, when it is due, what missing it costs and what you need to prepare. A plain guide for LLC owners outside the US.
By Christian SteffenPublished November 8, 20265 min readIf you own a US single-member LLC and live outside the United States, the IRS treats the company as a foreign-owned disregarded entity. That status comes with one yearly IRS filing that many founders only hear about after their first year: Form 5472, filed together with a pro forma Form 1120.
Who has to file
Every US LLC with a single foreign owner files Form 5472 for each tax year in which it had reportable transactions with its owner. Paying formation costs, putting money into the company or taking money out all count. In practice almost every foreign-owned LLC files from its formation year on.
When it is due
- April 15 of the year after the tax year, for a calendar-year company.
- Form 7004, filed by April 15, moves the deadline to October 15.
- The extension moves the filing date, not any payment that might be due.
All yearly duties of your LLC with their deadlines: Foreign-owned LLC annual requirements →
What missing it costs
The penalty is $25,000 for each missing return. If the return is still missing 90 days after the IRS notifies you, a further $25,000 is added for every 30 days, or part of 30 days, that it stays missing. A return that is substantially incomplete counts as not filed.
What you need to prepare
- The company’s EIN and formation date.
- Your details as the foreign owner, including your foreign tax number.
- A list of transactions between you and the company during the year: money in, money out, costs paid on its behalf.
Form 5472 is a US filing. It does not replace or change your tax obligations in the country where you live. Those you clarify with a tax adviser there.
In our yearly Tax package, our partner tax firm prepares and files Form 5472 with the pro forma Form 1120, €449 a year. We remind you before every deadline.
Sources: IRS Instructions for Form 5472 and Form 7004; penalty under Internal Revenue Code section 6038A(d). Checked September 24, 2026.
This article is general information, not tax or legal advice for your situation.