# A foreign-owned LLC

> Disregarded for income tax, a corporation for Form 5472: the pro forma 1120 a foreign owner can't skip.

Source: https://lopifi.com/learn/us-company-for-foreign-founders/foreign-owned-llc
Part of: Lopifi — US GAAP books on autopilot, checked by a CPA (https://lopifi.com)

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**What does a foreign-owned single-member LLC have to file?** Disregarded for income tax, a corporation for Form 5472: the pro forma 1120 a foreign owner can't skip.

A single-member US LLC owned by a non-US person is a [disregarded entity](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/disregarded-entity) for income tax, but not for reporting. The IRS treats a foreign-owned US disregarded entity as a corporation for the limited purpose of Form 5472, filed with a pro forma Form 1120 to report its transactions with its owner and related parties. A US corporation 25% or more foreign-owned files Form 5472 with its own Form 1120.

> “A foreign-owned U.S. DE is a domestic DE that is wholly owned by a foreign person.”

— [Instructions for Form 5472 (Rev. 12/2024), Foreign-owned U.S. DE](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i5472), A foreign-owned single-member LLC files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120

> “A penalty of $25,000 will be assessed on any reporting corporation that fails to file Form 5472”

— [Instructions for Form 5472 (Rev. 12/2024), Penalties](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i5472), Information return of a 25% foreign-owned U.S. corporation or a foreign corporation engaged in a U.S. trade or business

Who files, what counts as a reportable transaction, the $25,000 penalty and why the beneficial ownership report no longer applies to US-formed companies are the compliance track's [Form 5472 and BOI lesson](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/form-5472-and-boi-reporting).

## Where this page's rules come from

- [Instructions for Form 5472 (Rev. 12/2024), Foreign-owned U.S. DE](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i5472) — A foreign-owned single-member LLC files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 (irs)
- [Instructions for Form 5472 (Rev. 12/2024), Penalties](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i5472) — Information return of a 25% foreign-owned U.S. corporation or a foreign corporation engaged in a U.S. trade or business (irs)
- [Form 5472](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5472.pdf) (PDF) — Information Return of a 25% Foreign-Owned U.S. Corporation (PDF) (form)

- **Track:** [Entity types](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/entities)
- **Part of:** [US companies for founders abroad](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/us-company-for-foreign-founders) — 2 min
- **Terms taught:** [Disregarded entity](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/disregarded-entity), [Form 5472](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/form-5472)
- **Previous:** [The Delaware flip](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/us-company-for-foreign-founders/delaware-flip)
- **Next:** [EIN and ITIN from abroad](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/us-company-for-foreign-founders/ein-and-itin)
- **The course:** https://lopifi.com/md/learn