Which return does your LLC owe?
This page is general information, not tax advice for your situation.
A US LLC does not owe one standard return. The return it owes follows from how the LLC is classified for US tax purposes, and that classification follows from who owns it and what election it made. Get the classification right and the return follows. Get it wrong and the wrong form goes to the wrong place, or no form goes anywhere at all.
This page covers the four returns that a foreign-owned US LLC and its owner can owe: Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120, Form 1065, Form 1120, and the owner's personal Form 1040-NR. It also notes the FBAR, which is not a tax return at all.
The return follows the classification
Find your LLC in the left column. The middle column names the return. The right column names the mistake owners make most often on that row.
| LLC or owner | Return | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Single-member LLC, foreign-owned (disregarded entity) | Form 5472, attached to a pro forma Form 1120 | Assuming zero income means no return is owed. |
| Multi-member LLC, taxed as a partnership by default | Form 1065, with Schedule K-1 for each partner | Filing a Form 5472. A partnership generally does not file Form 5472. |
| LLC that elected corporate treatment (Form 8832) | Form 1120, the US Corporation Income Tax Return; plus Form 5472 if the corporation is at least 25 percent foreign-owned and had a reportable transaction with a foreign related party | Assuming the Form 5472 duty disappears when corporate treatment is elected. |
| Single-member LLC, US-owned | No Form 5472. Income is reported on the owner's own return. | Assuming a US-owned single-member LLC owes a Form 5472. |
| Nonresident alien owner with US income not fully covered by withholding | Form 1040-NR, the owner's personal return, in addition to the LLC's own return | Forgetting the owner's personal return once the LLC's return is filed. |
What a disregarded entity means
A single-member LLC with a foreign owner is a disregarded entity for US tax purposes. That means the LLC itself is not taxed as a separate business: its income and expenses are treated as the owner's. It does not mean the LLC files nothing. The LLC still owes the information return, Form 5472, and the pro forma Form 1120 goes with it as a cover sheet. Disregarded describes how the LLC is taxed, not whether it must file.
The same logic applies in the other direction. A multi-member LLC is not disregarded. By default it is taxed as a partnership, and the partnership files Form 1065. Each partner then receives a Schedule K-1 showing their share, and reports that share on their own return.
The pro forma Form 1120, explained
The pro forma Form 1120 is not a tax return. It is a cover sheet that carries the Form 5472 to the IRS. Write "Foreign-owned U.S. DE" across the top, fill in the name and address, item B (the EIN) and item E, and leave the rest blank. No tax is computed on it, and no tax is due with it.
Do not confuse the pro forma 1120 with the real Form 1120. The real Form 1120 is the US Corporation Income Tax Return. It computes tax, and it is filed by a corporation or by an LLC that elected corporate treatment with Form 8832. Filing a pro forma 1120 when a real 1120 is owed leaves the corporation return unfiled. The two forms share a number and little else.
Reportable transactions: the trigger
Form 5472 is required for every year in which the LLC had a reportable transaction with its foreign owner or another related party. A reportable transaction includes a capital contribution, a distribution, or a loan. The test is the transaction, not the income: a year with no income but a capital contribution still requires a Form 5472.
The formation year counts in practice. The money spent forming the LLC is normally paid by the owner and is a capital contribution, so the first year normally has a reportable transaction. We check the actual transactions for the year rather than assuming the duty. After that, a year with no reportable transactions at all requires no Form 5472 for that year. The duty is year by year, and each year is judged on its own transactions.
The owner's personal return
The LLC's return and the owner's return are two different filings. A nonresident alien owner with US-source income, or income effectively connected with a US trade or business, may also owe a personal return, Form 1040-NR. That return is the owner's, not the LLC's, and filing the LLC's return does not cover it. The 1040-NR has its own due date and its own rules, covered on its own page.
A US-owned single-member LLC works the other way round: there is no Form 5472, and the LLC's income is reported on the owner's own return. The owner still needs to know which return that is, and when it is due.
A note on the FBAR
The FBAR, FinCEN Form 114, is not a tax return. It is a report on foreign bank and financial accounts filed with FinCEN, not with the IRS, under the Bank Secrecy Act. A US LLC with a financial interest in or signature authority over foreign accounts must consider it separately from its tax returns. It has its own page on this site.
What to do next
Once you know which return you owe, check its deadline on the deadline calendar, then write to us about the return you need. The order flow is coming. Prices: Form 5472 $99 regular / $149 express, Form 1065 $199 / $249, Form 1120 $249 / $299, Form 1040-NR $149 / $199, FBAR $99 / $149, Form 5472 + FBAR $149 / $199, extension $19. If you are unsure which row of the table fits your LLC, say so in your message and describe the ownership as it stands.
Do not let a missed form cost $25,000.
Federal Returns handles five individual filings: Form 5472, Form 1065, Form 1120, Form 1040-NR and the FBAR (FinCEN Form 114, a FinCEN report, not a tax return). Flat prices from $99, regular or express, and the order flow is coming. Write to us about the filing you need.
Ask about your return →