30/07/2026
Your US LLC might owe $0 in tax and still be facing a $25,000 penalty. Here's the trap that catches thousands of non-resident founders.
If you're outside the US and own a US LLC (Delaware, Wyoming, New Mexico, or any state), there's a filing almost nobody warns you about: Form 5472.
The part that shocks people: it has nothing to do with profit.
Since 2017, a foreign-owned single-member US LLC has to file Form 5472 (attached to a "pro forma" 1120) whenever there's a reportable transaction with its owner. And "reportable" is broad: funding your own bank account, paying an expense, taking a distribution, even formation costs all count. "But my LLC was dormant" seldom holds up.
Three things that trip founders up:
đź“Ś It's a filing, not a tax. You can owe $0 in US income tax and still be required to file. Selling online to US customers from abroad often isn't a US trade or business, but you still file.
đź“Ś The penalty is brutal. $25,000 per form, per year, with no maximum cap, whether or not you made a single dollar.
đź“Ś You can't e-file it. It goes by mail or fax only, by April 15 (extendable to October 15). Send it to the wrong place and, for penalty purposes, it can count as never filed.
Good news if you've been worried about BOI: as of the March 2025 FinCEN rule, US-formed entities are now exempt from beneficial-ownership reporting. But Form 5472, your state franchise filing, and possible BEA surveys are separate and still apply.
Not sure if you need to file? Our free tool walks you through it in four questions 👇
đź”— https://zohairglobalaccountants.com/foreign-owned-us-businesses/foreign-owned-us-llc/
Missed prior years? Reasonable-cause relief is far easier to argue before an IRS notice arrives than after. Message us; we handle foreign-owned LLC compliance end to end, from EIN to filing.
