✓FilingChecker

Form 5472 · checked 18 October 2026

Missed the Form 5472 deadline? What to do now

The extended deadline for 2025 forms was 15 October 2026. If your foreign-owned US LLC didn't file by then (or by 15 April without an extension), file now anyway. The penalty can be $25,000, but waiting doesn't make it go away, and filing late with a good reasonable cause statement is how most owners get it removed.

Why you can't just skip it

  • The penalty is $25,000 per form, per year (IRC section 6038A(d)). A form that's badly incomplete counts as not filed.
  • It grows after an IRS notice. If the form still isn't filed 90 days after the IRS writes to you, another $25,000 is added for each 30 days (or part of 30 days) it stays missing.
  • The clock never starts. Under IRC section 6501(c)(8), the IRS's time limit to assess tax for that year doesn't begin until the information is filed, so an unfiled year stays open.
  • First-time abatement doesn't apply. It doesn't cover Form 5472 penalties, so relief has to come from reasonable cause.

What to do this week

  1. List every missed year. A single-member LLC owned by a foreign person must file for each year it existed, even with no income, if it had any transaction with its owner (including the owner paying formation fees).
  2. Prepare the package for each year: a pro forma Form 1120 (name, address, items B and E only, with "Foreign-owned U.S. DE" written across the top) and Form 5472. Form 5472 guide.
  3. Attach a reasonable cause statement to each year's package: what happened, why you didn't know, and what you did once you found out. Sign it under penalties of perjury.
  4. Fax or mail it. Fax 855-887-7737 or post to the IRS in Ogden, Utah (M/S 6112). These forms can't be e-filed with normal software. Keep the fax confirmation. How to fax Form 5472.

The argument that helps most: the small corporation rule

In IRS Chief Counsel Advice CCA 202617012 (released April 2026), the IRS said reasonable cause should be applied generously for small corporations that missed Form 5472. The statement should show, where true, that the company had under $20 million of worldwide gross receipts, didn't know about the requirement, had limited US presence, and is cooperating promptly. How to use it in your statement.

If you get a CP215 notice

The IRS often charges the $25,000 automatically when a late form arrives, with a notice such as CP215. Don't pay it and don't ignore it:

  1. Reply in writing before the date on the notice, asking for the penalty to be removed for reasonable cause, with your statement and proof the form has been filed.
  2. If that's refused, you can appeal to the IRS Independent Office of Appeals. The refusal letter explains how.
  3. If you paid it, Form 843 is the usual way to ask for it back.

When to get a professional

If several years are missing, the LLC had real US income, or a penalty has already been charged and refused, a US tax professional who handles international information returns is worth paying for. For one or two quiet years, many owners file the late forms themselves with a careful statement.

Write my reasonable cause statement

Also behind on state filings? Wyoming · Delaware · Florida · New Mexico · Texas. Next year, file on time: Form 5472 deadline.

Sources: IRC sections 6038A(d) and 6501(c)(8); IRS Chief Counsel Advice CCA 202617012; TaxesForExpats, Form 5472 penalty (continuation penalty, Form 843, reasonable cause); Jupid, Form 5472 for foreign-owned LLCs (CP215, fax number, pro forma 1120). Read 18 October 2026. This is general information, not tax advice.