Foreign-Owned US LLC Year-End Checklist for December 2026

Before 31 December 2026, a foreign-owned US LLC should close its books on a cash or accrual basis, label every transfer between the owner and the LLC, collect W-9 and W-8BEN forms from contractors, and confirm the LLC has its own EIN. Form 5472 for tax year 2026 is then due Thursday 15 April 2027.

December is the last month in which a 2026 fact can still be fixed cheaply. After 31 December, a missing invoice, an unlabelled wire, or a contractor who never returned a tax form all become reconstruction work — and reconstruction is the single most expensive part of preparing a Form 5472 package. You can start your Form 5472 filing now and send documents as they come in.

This is the action list, not a calendar. If you want the dates themselves — federal and state, month by month — read our 2027 compliance calendar for foreign-owned LLCs or use the free compliance calendar tool, which exports every date to your calendar app. This post covers only what has to happen while 2026 is still open.

What does 31 December 2026 actually close?

For a calendar-year LLC, 31 December 2026 closes the tax year that the April 2027 filing reports. The IRS Instructions for Form 1120 set the due date at "the 15th day of the 4th month after the end of its tax year," and the IRS Instructions for Form 5472 require Form 5472 to be filed "as an attachment to the reporting corporation's income tax return" by "the due date (including extensions) of that return." For tax year 2026 that date is Thursday 15 April 2027.

What closes is the set of facts. Which transfers happened, in which direction, on which date, for what reason — all of that is settled by 31 December. Nothing after that date changes it.

What is the checklist to finish before 31 December 2026?

1. Pick and confirm the accounting method. Cash or accrual. The Form 5472 instructions require a reporting corporation using an accrual method to "use accrued payments and accrued receipts" when computing the total on each line, which can put a December invoice and its January payment in different filing years. Our post on the cash versus accrual year-end cutoff works through the patterns.
2. Reconcile the LLC's bank account to 31 December. Download every statement for 2026 while the bank still lets you, including closed accounts and payment-platform accounts.
3. Label every transfer between you and the LLC. Capital contribution, loan, repayment, distribution, reimbursement, or payment for services — each label sends the amount to a different place on the form.
4. Chase the documents behind those transfers. A loan needs a note. A reimbursement needs the receipt. A service payment needs an invoice.
5. Collect a Form W-9 from every US contractor you paid in 2026, before the January information-return deadline arrives.
6. Collect a Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E from every non-US contractor, and note where each one physically performed the work.
7. Confirm the LLC has its own EIN in the LLC's name, not yours personally.
8. Check whether the LLC held a foreign financial account in 2026. A US LLC with a financial interest in foreign accounts whose aggregate value "exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year reported" has an FBAR obligation of its own.
9. Check the formation state's standing while you still have the year to fix a lapse.
10. Decide whether any prior year is still unfiled and needs to go in the same batch of work.

Why does labelling owner transfers matter before 2026 closes?

Because the label, not the amount, decides where the money lands on the form. The Form 5472 instructions put monetary transactions with a foreign related party in Part IV, and put a foreign-owned US disregarded entity's other reportable transactions — the instructions name "formation, dissolution, acquisition, and disposition amounts, as well as contributions and distributions" — in Part V.

A $40,000 wire from you to the LLC is a capital contribution, a loan, or a payment for something. In December you still remember which. In April, looking at a bank line that says only "TRANSFER FROM OWNER," you will be guessing, and a guess is what the regulation is designed to catch.

The cheap fix takes an afternoon: open the 2026 statements, and against every line that involves you or anything you control, write one sentence saying what it was.

Which contractor paperwork belongs in the file before year end?

Two forms, and the distinction is the payee's status, not where your bank is.

A US contractor completes a Form W-9. A non-US contractor completes a Form W-8BEN, or W-8BEN-E for an entity. The IRS Instructions for Form W-8BEN say the form establishes "that you are not a U.S. person," that it goes to "the withholding agent or payer" and never to the IRS, and that it should be given "before the payment is made." It stays in effect through the last day of the third succeeding calendar year unless a circumstance changes, so a W-8BEN signed in 2023 may already have expired.

Alongside each W-8, record where the contractor physically performed the work. That single fact decides which January and March deadlines apply to you — and it is far easier to establish in December than in February.

Does the LLC need its own EIN before December ends?

The filing needs one. The Form 5472 instructions require a foreign-owned US disregarded entity to file a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached, and that pro forma Form 1120 carries the LLC's own employer identification number — not the owner's personal number, and not a number belonging to another entity.

Getting an EIN is the one item on this list with an external queue in front of it. If the LLC does not have one, December is the month to start, not March. See our EIN service for what that involves.

What is no longer on the December 2026 list?

Beneficial ownership information reporting, for an LLC formed in the United States. FinCEN's beneficial ownership information page records an interim final rule published on 26 March 2025 that "exempts entities previously known as 'domestic reporting companies' from BOI reporting requirements," and a final rule dated 11 August 2026, effective 14 August 2026, that made the exemptions permanent. An entity formed outside the United States and registered to do business in a US state is a different case and should check the FinCEN page directly.

What happens after 31 December 2026?

Three dates, in order. Information returns for 2026 contractor payments fall due at the end of January 2027. Form 1042-S, where it applies, is due "by March 15" under the IRS Instructions for Form 1042-S — Monday 15 March 2027. The Form 5472 package and its pro forma Form 1120 are due Thursday 15 April 2027, and a Form 7004 extension filed by that date buys the "automatic extension period" of "generally 6 months" that the IRS Instructions for Form 7004 describe.

Note what the Form 5472 instructions also say: a foreign-owned US disregarded entity "cannot file Form 5472 electronically." The package goes by fax to the IRS Ogden fax line, 855-887-7737, or by mail to the Ogden address the instructions give. That is a physical process with a queue, which is another reason December work beats April work.

What if 2026 is not the only year you owe?

Then December is when to count the years. The Form 5472 instructions set a penalty of "$25,000" for a reporting corporation that "fails to file Form 5472 when due and in the manner prescribed," with "an additional penalty of $25,000" if the failure continues more than 90 days after IRS notification. The exposure is per year and per related party, so the number of open years is the number that matters.

Counting them in December gives you four months to assemble four years of records. Counting them in April gives you days.

The bottom line

December is a documentation month, not a filing month. Label the owner transfers, download the statements, chase the W-9s and W-8BENs, and confirm the EIN — then the April package is assembly rather than archaeology. Start your Form 5472 filing from $149; Standard turnaround is 5-7 business days, and Express is ready for you to check and sign within 24 hours, 7 days a week. Every filing is reviewed by a tax accountant who holds an IRS PTIN.

Frequently asked questions

What is the single most useful thing to do before 31 December 2026?

Write one sentence against every 2026 bank line that involves you or an entity you control, saying what the transfer was. Those labels decide which part of Form 5472 each amount belongs to, and your memory of them does not survive to April.

Does a dormant foreign-owned LLC still need to do year-end work?

Yes, if anything moved. A capital contribution, a bank fee paid by the owner, or a formation cost reimbursed to the owner is a reportable transaction between the owner and the LLC. Download the statements even for a year with no customers.

Can I move a December 2026 transaction into 2027 to simplify the filing?

No. The event date is a fact, and the Form 5472 instructions require an accrual-method filer to use accrued payments and receipts. Choosing a year to put a transfer in is not a year-end option.

Does my foreign-owned LLC still need a BOI report for 2026?

Not if the LLC was formed in the United States. FinCEN's final rule of 11 August 2026 made the exemption for former domestic reporting companies permanent. An entity formed abroad and registered in a US state should check the FinCEN page.

When exactly is Form 5472 due for tax year 2026?

Thursday 15 April 2027 for a calendar-year LLC, or Friday 15 October 2027 with a Form 7004 extension filed by the April date. The due date comes from the Form 1120 rule of the 15th day of the 4th month after the tax year ends.

Does the LLC's formation state have a December deadline?

It depends entirely on the state, and several states key their dates to the LLC's formation month rather than to December. Check your own state's dates with our compliance calendar rather than assuming a December date applies.

Should I file for 2026 in January if everything is ready?

You can. The filing reports a closed year, so once the 2026 facts are settled there is no advantage in waiting, and January is a far quieter month to do it in than April.

Educational content only; not tax or legal advice.