Owning a US single-member LLC from outside the US: what to do and when
Get an EIN once. For each tax year with a reportable transaction, file Form 5472 attached to a pro forma Form 1120, generally by the 15th day of the 4th month after the end of its tax year IRS · checked Oct 27, 2026, by fax or mail. Give US payers the tax form they ask for, keep records, and skip the BOI report: U.S. companies are exempt from the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirements FinCEN · checked Oct 27, 2026.
This page is for you if you are not a US citizen or resident and you alone own a US limited liability company (LLC) that has not chosen to be taxed as a corporation. Each item links to the page with the steps.
Start here: how the IRS treats your LLC
For income tax, the IRS says an LLC with only one member is treated as an entity disregarded as separate from its owner IRS · checked Oct 27, 2026, unless it files Form 8832 to be treated as a corporation. This default is called a disregarded entity (DE). This site covers only the default.
When a foreign person wholly owns a US DE, the Form 5472 instructions say it is classified as a corporation for the limited purposes of the requirements under section 6038A IRS · checked Oct 27, 2026. As a result, the instructions say it must file a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached, even though it has no income tax return filing requirement.
Once, when you set up
- Form the LLC with a state. The IRS calls an LLC "an entity created by state statute" and says to form your entity through the secretary of state before you apply for an EIN IRS · checked Oct 27, 2026. Check the secretary of state website of the state you choose for the steps.
- Get an EIN. The Form SS-4 instructions say a disregarded entity must use its own name and EIN where a U.S. disregarded entity is wholly owned by a foreign person, to file information returns on Form 5472 IRS · checked Oct 27, 2026. Without an SSN or ITIN you can't use the online application; see how to get an EIN without an SSN.
Every tax year
- Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120. The LLC files if it had a reportable transaction with a related party; for a foreign-owned DE these include amounts paid or received in connection with forming, dissolving, acquiring or disposing of the LLC, including contributions to, and distributions from, the entity IRS · checked Oct 27, 2026 (what counts). It is generally due by the 15th day of the 4th month after the end of its tax year IRS · checked Oct 27, 2026, and you cannot file Form 5472 electronically IRS · checked Oct 27, 2026: see Form 5472, step by step.
- More time. File Form 7004 by the regular due date of the return IRS · checked Oct 27, 2026. Already late? Read late or missed Form 5472.
- State requirements. Check the secretary of state website of the state where you formed the LLC.
When a US payer asks for a tax form
A US platform, client or bank may ask for a Form W-8 or W-9. The W-8BEN instructions say that if you are the single owner of a disregarded entity, you are considered the beneficial owner of income received by the disregarded entity IRS · checked Oct 27, 2026. Which form to give is covered in W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E if you own a single-member LLC.
All year: keep records
The Form 5472 instructions say a reporting corporation must keep the permanent books of account or records as required by section 6001 IRS · checked Oct 27, 2026, enough to show its return is correct, including its transactions with related parties. The $25,000 IRS · checked Oct 27, 2026 penalty for not filing Form 5472 also applies for failure to maintain records as required by Regulations section 1.6038A-3 IRS · checked Oct 27, 2026.
Not needed: a BOI report to FinCEN
FinCEN now exempts companies created in the United States, including LLCs with non-US owners, from beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting. What changed, who still reports, and what to do if you got a FinCEN ID are on BOI report: not required for US LLCs.
If you would rather have help
To pay a filing service instead, compare LLC formation and registered agent services or Form 5472 filing services.