US Accounting for your LLC

What does a non-resident-owned LLC file each year?

For the IRS, a single-member LLC owned by a foreign person is a disregarded entity: no regular corporate income tax return, but federal information returns. Its tax year is the one its owner uses for US filings or, if there is none, the calendar year. Here is the calendar for a calendar-year LLC:

An IRS deadline that falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday moves to the next business day. If your LLC's activity is taxable in the US, you may also owe a personal return (1040-NR), which requires an ITIN. The full path is in our guide to US LLCs for non-residents.

Form 5472 and pro forma 1120: due date, extension, penalty

Form 5472 reports the dealings between your LLC and you. It is attached to a pro forma Form 1120 marked "Foreign-owned U.S. DE" at the top, which is limited mostly to identifying the LLC. The package is due April 15 after the end of the tax year.

Form 7004, filed by that date, grants an automatic six-month extension, to October 15. A foreign-owned LLC cannot e-file Form 5472: it goes by fax or by mail.

The penalty is $25,000 per form not filed on time, and a substantially incomplete form counts as not filed. If the failure continues more than 90 days after an IRS notice, another $25,000 applies for each 30-day period.

What is a reportable transaction on Form 5472?

For a foreign-owned LLC, almost any movement of money with its owner (or another related party) is a reportable transaction, even with zero revenue:

• money you put into the LLC (capital contribution);
• money you take out for yourself (distribution);
• LLC costs paid out of your own pocket, formation included;
• a loan between you and the LLC, and its interest;
• sales, purchases, rent or services billed between you and the LLC.

A separate Form 5472 is filed for each related party. No reportable transaction in the year means no 5472; but in the first year, formation costs paid by the owner are enough to trigger the filing.

Bookkeeping for your LLC: statements, categories, receipts

The IRS requires records sufficient to establish the correctness of the return, including transactions with related parties. Failing to keep them carries the same $25,000 penalty as failing to file. Four habits cover it:

• an account used only by the LLC, with no personal spending (see US bank account);
• monthly statements for every account, reconciled with the books;
• every transaction categorized: sales, expenses, contributions, withdrawals, loans;
• an invoice or receipt for every expense.

The IRS recommends keeping records at least three years after filing, and indefinitely for any year in which no return was filed.

FBAR (FinCEN 114): when does your LLC have to file?

For FBAR purposes, an LLC formed in the United States is a U.S. person, even if it is disregarded for income tax. It reports its financial accounts located outside the US once their combined value exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.

The total is what counts: three accounts of $4,000 add up to $12,000 and trigger the filing. Accounts at a US bank are not covered, nor are your personal accounts.

The FBAR is filed online through FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System, not with a tax return, by April 15 (automatic extension to October 15).

W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E, W-9, 1099-NEC: who fills out what?

Form 1099-NEC covers payments for services to a US contractor who is not an employee: from $2,000 per contractor for payments made in 2026 ($600 for 2025), a threshold indexed for inflation from 2027. Payments to a company taxed as a corporation are generally exempt, except attorney fees.

State annual reports and sales tax: outside the IRS, still mandatory

Each state sets its own rules, separate from the IRS. In Wyoming, the annual report is due on the first day of the month the LLC was formed, with a license tax of $60 minimum in 2026 (0.02% of the assets located and employed in the state, if higher); if it is not filed within 60 days of the due date, the LLC is administratively dissolved. In Delaware, an LLC files no annual report but pays an annual tax of $400 by June 1 of the following year ($400 from the 2026 tax year, so from June 1, 2027). The state is chosen when you form your LLC.

Sales tax is a tax on sales set by each state. You collect it where your LLC has a sufficient connection, called nexus. Since the Supreme Court's South Dakota v. Wayfair decision (2018), sales volume into a state alone can create that connection, without physical presence. Thresholds and taxable items vary by state: check them if you sell to US customers.

Missed report or unpaid state tax? See LLC operations.

Costly mistakes

• believing an LLC with no revenue has nothing to file;
• paying LLC costs with a personal card without recording them;
• filing the pro forma 1120 without Form 5472, or a half-completed 5472;
• waiting until April to gather statements, then forgetting Form 7004;
• checking the FBAR threshold account by account instead of in total;
• signing a W-9 by reflex instead of a W-8BEN;
• neglecting the state annual report until the LLC is dissolved.

How it works with Altixia

Altixia is an IRS tax preparer and Certifying Acceptance Agent. Here is how we handle your LLC:

1. Starting point: state, formation date, EIN, accounts in the US and elsewhere, transactions between you and the LLC.
2. Through the year: you send statements and receipts, we categorize transactions and reconcile the accounts. A dashboard every month.
3. An alert before each deadline, federal or state.
4. Preparation of Form 5472 and the pro forma 1120, or Form 7004 if more time is needed, then submission to the IRS.
5. FBAR, W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E and 1099-NEC as your situation requires.

We work over WhatsApp and email. Unfiled past years? We start by catching them up.