Form 5472 for Canada Residents Who Own a US LLC: What You Need to File

Canadian residents who own a US single-member LLC must file IRS Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year, even when no US tax is due. On Form 5472 Part II you can enter your Canadian SIN as the foreign tax identifying number, or a self-assigned reference ID if you'd rather not use it. Capital you put in counts as a reportable transaction, and missing the filing risks a $25,000 penalty.

If you're based in Canada and own a US single-member LLC — whether it's a Delaware, Wyoming, or any other state entity — the IRS almost certainly requires you to file Form 5472 every year. This is not an income tax return. You don't pay US federal income tax on your business profits simply because you own a US LLC. But you do have an information return filing obligation, and the penalty for missing it is $25,000 per form, per year under IRC §6038A(d).

This guide covers what's specific to Canadian residents: what Form 5472 requires from you, what your Social Insurance Number has to do with it, whether the Canada-US tax treaty eliminates the obligation (it doesn't), and what counts as a reportable transaction when you're funding a US business from a Canadian bank account.

TL;DR — What Canadian LLC Owners Need to Know

You must file Form 5472 attached to a pro forma Form 1120 if you're a Canadian resident who owns a US single-member LLC and had any money move between you and the LLC during the year.
Your SIN (Social Insurance Number) is your FTIN — the Foreign Taxpayer Identification Number required on Form 5472 Part II.
The Canada-US tax treaty reduces withholding on certain income types but does not eliminate the Form 5472 obligation. These are separate regimes.
Zero revenue ≠ zero filing. The wire transfer you made from your TD or RBC account to open your US LLC bank account is a reportable capital contribution.
BOI reporting to FinCEN is NOT required for US-formed LLCs as of March 26, 2025 — many online guides haven't caught up with this.
The deadline is April 15, extendable to October 15 by filing Form 7004 in advance.

Does this apply to you?

Three conditions must all be true:

You own a US single-member LLC.
You are not a US person — not a US citizen, green card holder, or US tax resident.
There was at least one reportable transaction between you and the LLC during the tax year.

The second condition is automatically met if you're a Canadian resident with no US immigration status. The tricky part is the third — most Canadians who think their LLC is "quiet" actually had at least one reportable transaction.

What counts as a reportable transaction if you're in Canada?

Reportable transactions under 26 CFR §1.6038A-4 cover any money, property, or services exchanged between the LLC and you as the foreign related party.

Common examples for Canadian LLC owners:

Sending a wire from your TD, RBC, Scotiabank, or other Canadian bank account to fund the LLC's Mercury, Relay, or US bank account — a capital contribution, reportable
Using Wise or Interac e-Transfer routed into a US-linked account — still a capital contribution if it ends up in the LLC
Any time the LLC pays you back — distributions from the LLC to your Canadian account, reportable
Paying the LLC's registered agent fee or state renewal from your personal Canadian credit card — the LLC owes you that money back, making it either a capital contribution or a loan, both reportable
Loans in either direction — you lending to the LLC, or the LLC lending to you

What is not a reportable transaction:

Your Stripe revenue, your client invoices, any payments from third-party customers into the LLC — that is the LLC's business income and is not reported on Form 5472. The form only cares about money moving between you personally and the LLC.

Which number is your FTIN if you're in Canada?

Form 5472 Part II asks for your Foreign Taxpayer Identification Number (FTIN). For Canadian individuals, the FTIN is your Social Insurance Number (SIN) — the nine-digit number issued by Service Canada and used for tax filing with the Canada Revenue Agency.

Enter your SIN in the FTIN field on Part II. If you are a Canadian corporation (not an individual) that owns the US LLC, then the FTIN for the corporation is its Business Number (BN) — the 9-digit registration number assigned by the CRA.

A few things worth clarifying about the SIN on US forms:

Your SIN is not the same as a US Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). You don't need to apply for an ITIN just to file Form 5472.
Your SIN is not sufficient for claiming treaty benefits on a W-8BEN for US withholding purposes. But that's a different regime from Form 5472 — on Form 5472, your SIN is the correct identifier for Part II.
If you genuinely don't have a SIN (rare for a Canadian resident), Form 5472 has a checkbox to explain why no FTIN is available, along with a reason. Always provide the SIN if you have one.

What about the Canada-US tax treaty?

The Convention Between Canada and the United States of America with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital (the "Canada-US Treaty") is a comprehensive double-taxation agreement. It covers things like: reduced withholding rates on dividends (typically 15% rather than 30%), interest (often 0%), and royalties between the two countries; tie-breaker rules for determining residency; and relief from double-taxation on income.

What the treaty doesn't do: eliminate the Form 5472 filing obligation. Form 5472 is an information return, not a mechanism for calculating or paying tax. The treaty negotiates tax rates between two countries; the IRS's requirement to know about related-party transactions between a US LLC and its foreign owner is separate and not subject to treaty override.

If you're thinking "but my LLC is taxed in Canada, not the US, so I shouldn't need to file anything in the US" — that's a misunderstanding of what Form 5472 is. It reports transactions, not taxable income. The US doesn't assert income tax over your LLC profits simply because it's a disregarded entity. It does assert the right to information about money flowing between you and the US entity you own.

What if you own your US LLC through a Canadian holding company?

Some Canadian founders use a structure like: Canadian corporation (e.g., a holding company or operating company) → owns 100% of a US LLC. This is a legitimate structure, especially for founders who have already incorporated in Canada and want a US entity for US business.

In this structure:

The foreign related party on Form 5472 is the Canadian corporation, not you as an individual.
The FTIN in Part II is the Canadian corporation's Business Number (BN).
Reportable transactions include any money flowing between the US LLC and the Canadian corporation (intercompany loans, service fees, management fees, distributions upward to the Canadian parent).
The Canadian corporation is the "25% foreign shareholder" even though it is 100% owned by you, a Canadian individual.

This structure is more complex and often warrants a tax professional who handles cross-border work. The Form 5472 filing itself follows the same mechanics — pro forma 1120 + Form 5472 faxed to Ogden — but the transaction analysis is more nuanced.

What do you actually file?

For each tax year your Canadian-owned US LLC existed, you need:

Pro forma Form 1120: LLC name, EIN, address, date incorporated, total assets at year end. Write "Foreign-Owned U.S. DE" across the top of page 1. Leave income fields blank.
Form 5472:
- Part I: LLC's information (EIN, name, address, tax year)
- Part II: Your information as the foreign shareholder (name, country — Canada — and your SIN as the FTIN)
- Part III: Check the applicable transaction type boxes
- Part V: If you had monetary transactions, list each type with the total dollar amount for the year
Part V supporting statement: "Capital contributions from foreign shareholder: $X,XXX" — line items for each transaction category.

The complete package — Form 1120 cover plus Form 5472 — gets faxed to the IRS Ogden PIN Unit at +1-855-887-7737. There is no e-file option. Do not mail it to a regular IRS service center.

The deadline is April 15 of the following year (so April 15, 2026 for tax year 2025), extendable to October 15 by filing Form 7004.

What if you haven't filed for previous years?

The fix is the Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedure (DIIRSP). You prepare returns for all missing years, attach a reasonable cause statement, and fax the complete package to the IRS Ogden PIN Unit.

Most Canadian founders who didn't know about the requirement qualify for reasonable cause abatement — the IRS recognizes that non-US residents are often unaware of this obligation when they form a US LLC. Earlier is better: the continuation penalty ($25,000 per 30-day period after an IRS notice) runs on top of the initial penalty.

See our complete guide to filing late Form 5472 returns for the full DIIRSP walkthrough.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a US address to file Form 5472?

No. Your Canadian address goes on Part II as the foreign shareholder's address. The LLC's registered agent address in the US state goes on the Form 1120 cover. You don't need a US personal address.

My US LLC has a Canadian accountant. Can they file Form 5472?

Yes, if they're familiar with the filing workflow for a foreign-owned disregarded entity. The key requirement is knowing that the return goes to the IRS Ogden PIN Unit by fax (not e-file, not mail to a general IRS address) and that it must be attached to a pro forma Form 1120. Not every accountant knows this workflow — it's not a standard Canadian tax filing.

Does my LLC need to file a state tax return in addition to the federal Form 5472?

Possibly. State filing requirements vary. Delaware, for example, has an annual franchise tax report. Wyoming has an annual report fee. These are state-level obligations separate from the federal Form 5472, and they're typically much simpler. Check the requirements for the state where your LLC is formed.

I used a Wyoming LLC registered agent service. Does the registered agent file Form 5472 for me?

No. Registered agent services handle service of process and annual report filings — they're not tax preparers and they don't file Form 5472. You or your tax preparer must handle the Form 5472 filing separately.

Can I file jointly for multiple tax years in one package?

No, but you can fax all years in one transmission. Each year requires its own pro forma Form 1120 and Form 5472. You package them all together with a single cover letter (the DIIRSP statement) and fax the complete bundle to the IRS at once.

The bottom line

If you're a Canadian resident who owns a US single-member LLC, your Form 5472 obligation is the same as any other non-US person who owns a US disregarded entity. The form is not complex, the filing process is straightforward, and the Canada-US treaty doesn't change any of it. Your SIN is your FTIN, your initial bank transfer to the LLC was a reportable capital contribution, and the penalty for not filing is $25,000 per year.

For a broader overview, see what Form 5472 is and who must file. If you need to catch up on prior years, the DIIRSP guide covers the process step by step.

Ready to file? Start your filing here — takes about 15 minutes, fax to the IRS included.