Does a US LLC need an accountant: a Form 5472 filer's checklist

Your LLC's filings and your facts decide whether you need an accountant. A foreign-owned LLC that must file Form 5472 has to keep permanent books or records. For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, the initial penalty for not filing a required Form 5472 is $25,000 per form per year (IRS: Internal Revenue Manual 8.11.5). Start with the records, which must show that the LLC's federal income tax return is correct.

What is on a foreign-owned LLC's task list

Your task list is every row in the table below whose “Applies when” condition your LLC meets.

The Form 5472 instructions (December 2024 revision) describe this filing for a foreign-owned US disregarded entity (DE) that is required to file Form 5472. The instructions define a foreign-owned US DE as a domestic disregarded entity wholly owned by a foreign person. The DE files a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached. The instructions say a reporting corporation generally must file Form 5472 if it had a reportable transaction with a foreign or domestic related party (IRS: Instructions for Form 5472). On the pro forma version, the only information required is the DE's name and address and items B and E on the first page. For more detail, see the Form 5472 guide for foreign-owned LLCs.

Task	Applies when	What the source says	Ask a CPA or EA about
Books and records	The LLC is a reporting corporation	Records must be permanent, accurate and complete, and must clearly establish income, deductions and credits (Cornell LII: 26 CFR §1.6038A-3)	Which records your related-party transactions need
Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120	A foreign-owned US DE is required to file Form 5472	The pro forma Form 1120 needs only the DE's name and address and items B and E on the first page (IRS: Instructions for Form 5472)	Late or missed past filings
Beneficial ownership information (BOI) report	The company was created in the United States	FinCEN's alert updated August 11, 2026 says US companies are exempt under its finalized rule (FinCEN: Beneficial ownership information reporting)	Any doubt about where the company was created
Owner's US income tax return	You are a nonresident alien with income effectively connected with a US trade or business	If you are required to file a US income tax return, you must use Form 1040-NR (IRS: Taxation of nonresident aliens)	Whether your income is effectively connected
Form 5472 due date	The reporting corporation has an income tax return filing requirement	Form 5472 is attached to the reporting corporation's income tax return and filed by that return's due date, including extensions (IRS: Instructions for Form 5472)	Whether your LLC has that filing requirement

Sales tax rules differ by state. See who remits Amazon sales tax. For FBAR details, see FBAR for LLCs: who files.

Records and the $25,000 penalty

The Form 5472 instructions (December 2024 revision) say the $25,000 Form 5472 penalty also applies to a failure to keep the records required by Treasury Regulation §1.6038A-3 (IRS: Instructions for Form 5472).

Keeping records is a legal duty of its own. The Form 5472 instructions say a reporting corporation must keep permanent books of account or records as required by IRC §6001 (IRS: Instructions for Form 5472). Under that guidance, a foreign-owned US DE counts as a reporting corporation. Its records must be enough to establish that its federal income tax return is correct. That includes records relevant to related-party transactions.

Treasury Regulation §1.6038A-3 adds detail. The records must be permanent, accurate and complete, and must clearly establish income, deductions and credits (Cornell LII: 26 CFR §1.6038A-3). The regulation also gives a longer list of record types. It says that list is not a checklist every reporting corporation must keep. The list covers records relevant to the company's business or industry and to the correct US tax treatment of transactions with foreign related parties. In the regulation's own example, the company must keep all documentation needed to establish the US tax treatment of capital contributions (money the owner puts in), dividends and loans. The example does not mean every LLC has all three.

The Form 5472 instructions set the penalty at $25,000 for any reporting corporation that fails to file Form 5472 when due and in the manner prescribed (IRS: Instructions for Form 5472). For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, the Internal Revenue Manual sets the initial penalty for not filing Form 5472 at $25,000 per form per year (IRS: Internal Revenue Manual 8.11.5). For those years, the same initial penalty also covers a filed Form 5472 that leaves out required information.

When to hire a CPA or enrolled agent

Hire a CPA or enrolled agent (EA) when an answer depends on your own facts rather than on a form's instructions. Three such questions come up in the IRS sources behind this article:

• Income tied to a US business. A nonresident alien who is required to file a US income tax return must use Form 1040-NR, the US Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return (IRS: Taxation of nonresident aliens). Whether any of your income is effectively connected depends on your facts.
• Treaty rates. For nonresident aliens, ask whether some income is taxed at the usual rate, or at a lower treaty rate if you qualify (IRS: Taxation of nonresident aliens). Qualifying depends on your own facts.
• Missed or late Form 5472 filings. Ask a qualified professional about your options. Tell them, for example, whether your LLC is a company that had no knowledge of the requirements, has limited US presence and contact, and promptly complied with filing and records requests. A professional can judge whether your case fits.

This article does not answer these questions for your situation.

How to prepare before you ask for help

Get ready by recording the facts that each rule depends on, in your books and in your notes. Four steps, each tied to a rule above:

1. Record owner transactions separately. Keep documentation for any capital contributions, dividends and loans between you and the LLC. The regulation's example requires this documentation for those transactions (Cornell LII: 26 CFR §1.6038A-3).
2. Confirm the LLC's tax year. A foreign-owned US DE uses its owner's US tax filing year or, if the owner has none, the calendar year (IRS: Instructions for Form 5472).
3. Check your own return. A nonresident alien who is required to file a US income tax return must use Form 1040-NR (IRS: Taxation of nonresident aliens).
4. List your fact questions. Write down what you need to know about effectively connected income, treaty rates or past filings. Take the list to a CPA or EA.

Quick answers

What records must a foreign-owned LLC keep?

A reporting corporation must keep permanent books of account or records as required by IRC §6001 (IRS: Instructions for Form 5472). Treasury Regulation §1.6038A-3 says the records must be sufficient to establish that the corporation's federal income tax return is correct. They must also clearly establish income, deductions and credits (Cornell LII: 26 CFR §1.6038A-3). The regulation's longer list of record types is not a checklist every reporting corporation must keep.

Does a foreign-owned LLC with no US sales tax obligations still need bookkeeping?

Yes, if it is a reporting corporation. The Form 5472 instructions say a reporting corporation must keep permanent books of account or records as required by IRC §6001 (IRS: Instructions for Form 5472). The condition in that rule is reporting-corporation status. Under that guidance, a foreign-owned US disregarded entity counts as one. The records must be enough to establish that its federal income tax return is correct.

Where Taxller fits

Money you put in or take out, and loans between you and the LLC, are kept separate in your books — the owner transactions that Form 5472 asks about. Our free tax calendar lists the federal deadlines for sellers and the state deadlines for 19 states, with weekend shifts applied and sources cited. Taxller never files or pays anything on your behalf: you or your accountant review and file.

Sources

• Instructions for Form 5472 (12/2024)
• 26 CFR § 1.6038A-3 - Record maintenance
• 26 U.S. Code § 6038A - Information with respect to certain foreign-owned corporations
• Internal Revenue Manual 8.11.5, International Penalties
• Taxation of nonresident aliens
• Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting