Everything a foreign-owned US LLC needs, and the work around it.

Form 5472 and the pro forma 1120

Form 5472 is the IRS information return that reports transactions between a US company and its foreign related parties. It is filed with a pro forma Form 1120, a cover return that carries no tax and only identifies the entity.

You must file it if a foreign person owns 25 percent or more of your US corporation. Since 2017 the same rule reaches foreign-owned single-member LLCs treated as disregarded entities. Skipping it carries a penalty of $25,000 per form per year. If the form is still unfiled 90 days after the IRS notifies you, a further $25,000 applies for each additional 30-day period.

We map the reportable transactions most owners do not realise they have. We prepare both the pro forma 1120 and the 5472, then file the package by mail or fax to Ogden, Utah, because foreign-owned disregarded entities cannot e-file. Starts at $250 for one tax year with little to no activity.

Late filings and reasonable cause

A late filing is a return or information return that was due in an earlier year and never filed. Reasonable cause is the written explanation you attach when you ask the IRS to remove the penalty for filing late.

Any foreign-owned US LLC with unfiled Form 5472 years needs both. The exposure grows fast, because the $25,000 penalty applies per form and per year. Under section 6501(c)(8), the assessment period for a year does not close until three years after the required Form 5472 is filed, so unfiled years stay open. Coming forward before the IRS contacts you also keeps the timing in your hands.

We work out which years are missing and rebuild the numbers behind them. Unfiled years are brought up to date and filed together, each with a properly argued reasonable cause statement written around your own facts and dates. We also cover responding to an IRS notice that has already arrived.

FBAR, FinCEN Form 114

The FBAR is the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, filed as FinCEN Form 114. It goes to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, not to the IRS, and it is separate from your tax return.

You file it if you are a US person and your non-US accounts exceeded $10,000 combined at any point in the year. The threshold is the total across every account, not a limit per account, so several small accounts can cross it. Signature authority over an account you do not own can count too. The deadline is April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15. Missing it is expensive.

We check whether it applies to you as part of every intake, because it takes one question to answer. When it does apply, we collect the account details and the highest balance in each one, prepare the report, and file it.

Form 7004 extensions

Form 7004 is the IRS application for more time to file a business return. It moves your Form 5472 deadline from April 15 to October 15. It extends the time to file, not the time to pay anything owed. The IRS charges nothing for the extension itself; our fee for preparing and filing it is $100. That is a small cost next to a missed deadline.

Bookkeeping

Full-ledger record keeping maintained year-round, or a one-time catch-up to rebuild books before a filing. Section 6038A requires records supporting what goes on the 5472, so this is often the thing that has to happen first. Reportable items include money you put into the LLC, money you take out, and loans either way. We work from bank statements, invoices, and payment processor exports.

LLC formation

Setting up a US LLC as a non-resident, with the compliance obligations explained before you have them rather than three years later. We go through the state choice and what each one costs to keep open. You also learn which federal filings the entity creates, so the first Form 5472 is not a surprise. From $350 plus state fees.

Annual reports and reinstatement

State annual report filings, and bringing an entity back into good standing where a state has administratively dissolved it. Wyoming annual report is $100 plus the $60 state fee. Due dates and fees differ by state, so we track yours alongside your federal dates. A dissolved LLC still carries its federal filing history, so reinstatement and catch-up filings often run together.

Other business and individual returns

Federal and state preparation for individuals and US businesses, including Form 1040-NR for non-resident owners with US-connected income. We also prepare partnership and corporation returns where an LLC has elected to be taxed that way. If you are already a client for the 5472 work, this is the same team, and your books and entity details are already on file.