Form 5472 for Colombia Residents with a US LLC

A Colombia resident who owns a US single-member LLC must file Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 each year the LLC had a reportable transaction with them. No US-Colombia income tax treaty is in force, and that changes nothing about the filing. The FTIN box takes your DIAN NIT, or "None" if you have none.

Colombia is now a main base for remote workers and online founders, many of them foreigners living in Medellín, Bogotá or Cartagena. Plenty hold a Wyoming, Delaware or New Mexico LLC for the usual reasons: US payment processors, a dollar bank account, and clients who prefer paying a US entity.

Two features of the Colombian position change the mechanics compared with a UK or Indian owner. The first is the treaty: none is in force, and much online content blurs that. The second is identification: whether you hold a NIT depends on whether you are registered in Colombia's RUT, which many recently arrived nomads are not. Neither removes the obligation.

If you would rather have it done than read about it, we prepare and fax the complete package from $149.

Do Colombia residents have to file Form 5472?

Yes. Living in Colombia gives no exemption. The filing is required when three conditions are met:

1. The LLC is a US disregarded entity: a single-member LLC that has not elected corporate treatment.
2. Its sole owner is a foreign person: not a US citizen, green card holder or US tax resident.
3. During the tax year there was at least one reportable transaction between the LLC and its owner or another foreign related party.

Under Treasury Regulation § 1.6038A-1, for tax years beginning on or after 1 January 2017 and ending on or after 13 December 2017, a foreign-owned US disregarded entity is treated as a corporation separate from its owner solely for the § 6038A reporting rules. That is why an LLC that owes no US tax still files.

A reportable transaction is money, property or services moving between you and your own LLC: contributions in, distributions out, loans either way, and payments for goods or services. Customer revenue is not reportable. When a client pays your LLC's invoice through Stripe, nothing goes on the form. When you move USD 5,000 from the LLC's Mercury account to your personal Bancolombia account, that transfer does.

The IRS instructions state that a $25,000 penalty may apply for failure to file when due and in the prescribed manner, or for failure to keep the required records, and that a substantially incomplete Form 5472 counts as a failure to file. It is not automatic for every small error.

Does the US-Colombia tax treaty change anything?

There is no treaty to change it: no income tax treaty between the United States and Colombia is in force. Colombia does not appear on the IRS list of United States income tax treaties, whose C entries run Canada, Chile, China, Cyprus and the Czech Republic.

"No treaty in force" and "no treaty ever signed" are different claims. The IRS list shows treaties in force, so its silence proves only the first. Negotiations have been reported in the past, but we found no official US or Colombian source confirming that an income tax convention was ever signed. Treat any claim of a "signed but unratified" US-Colombia treaty as unverified unless it points to an official text.

What the absence means in practice:

• No treaty relief. No permanent establishment article and no treaty-reduced withholding. Whether your income is effectively connected with a US trade or business is decided under US domestic law alone.
• No tie-breaker. If both countries could treat you as resident, no treaty rule settles it.
• No change to Form 5472. Treaties allocate taxing rights over income; Form 5472 is an information return under IRC § 6038A. A treaty would not have exempted you, so its absence takes nothing away.

What goes in the FTIN box if you have a NIT, a cédula or neither?

Enter your NIT if DIAN has issued one; otherwise write "None". Either way, if line 4b(1) has no US identifying number, line 4b(2) needs a self-assigned reference ID.

The NIT (Número de Identificación Tributaria) is the number DIAN uses to identify taxpayers, issued through registration in the RUT (Registro Único Tributario). DIAN's RUT quality instructions (IN-CAC-0237) explain how it is formed:

• Colombian citizens of legal age: with some exceptions, the NIT is the cédula de ciudadanía number plus a verification digit.
• Foreigners registered with a cédula de extranjería or passport: DIAN assigns a NIT in the range 700,000,001 to 799,999,999. Older NITs in the 600,000,000 series are kept, and some older registrations used the cédula de extranjería number itself.

The same document describes the cédula de extranjería as issued by Migración Colombia solely to identify foreigners in Colombia. It is an identity card, not a tax number.

Do not enter a cédula de extranjería number as if it were a tax number; if DIAN used it as your NIT, your RUT shows that. And do not apply for an ITIN just to fill this box. Our FTIN and reference ID guide covers the format. For the Part II address, use your actual address in Colombia, not the LLC's registered agent address.

Does Colombian tax affect the US filing?

No. Colombian tax is a separate system, and nothing in it switches the US filing on or off. In outline only:

Under Article 10 of the Estatuto Tributario, you are a Colombian tax resident if you stay in the country, continuously or not, for more than 183 calendar days, counting entry and exit days, within any 365 consecutive calendar days. DIAN quotes that text in its Concepto 14536 de 2025. Article 10 has further tests for Colombian nationals that we do not cover here. Under Article 9, residents are taxed on income from Colombian and foreign sources.

How your LLC's profits are treated in Colombia depends on Colombian law, including how Colombia classifies the LLC. We do not advise on it; ask DIAN or a Colombian contador. From the US side:

• Crossing 183 days in Colombia does not create a US filing, and staying under it does not remove one.
• A Colombian SAS you own that transacts with your LLC is a separate related party needing its own Form 5472.

The digital-nomad visa. Colombia's visitor visa (visa V) has a digital-nomad category under Resolution 5477 of 2022 of the Cancillería. Per the resolution, it covers remote work from Colombia exclusively for foreign companies, or starting a digital-content or IT venture; it runs up to two years; and it does not permit paid work for people or companies domiciled in Colombia. It also sets income and passport conditions, so check the current text. It has no effect on Form 5472.

Worked example: what does a Medellín owner report?

Laura, a non-US citizen living in Medellín, runs a design studio through a Wyoming LLC. In tax year 2025:

• Clients paid the LLC USD 48,000 through Stripe.
• The LLC paid USD 6,000 to unrelated US software vendors.
• She funded the LLC with COP 3,773,620 from her Bancolombia account.
• She paid a USD 240 LLC software invoice on her personal card.
• She transferred USD 30,000 from the LLC to her Bancolombia account.

For illustration, every COP figure uses one rate: 3,773.62 COP per US dollar, the US Treasury Reporting Rates of Exchange rate for Colombia-Peso dated 31 December 2025. In your own workpapers, use a reasonable rate for each transaction, apply it consistently and state the basis; see our currency conversion guide.

Check: 3,773,620 ÷ 3,773.62 = USD 1,000; 240 × 3,773.62 = COP 905,668.80, rounded; 1,000 + 240 + 30,000 = USD 31,240, and 31,240 × 3,773.62 = COP 117,887,888.80, rounded. The USD 54,000 of revenue and vendor payments never appears on the form; see customer payments and Form 5472.

How does a Colombia-based owner actually file?

The package cannot be e-filed.

1. Prepare the pro forma Form 1120 with "Foreign-owned U.S. DE" across the top of page 1. Only the LLC's name and address and items B and E are required.
2. Prepare Form 5472: Part II with your Colombian address, NIT or "None", and a reference ID if needed; Part IV for the monetary transactions.
3. Attach a Part V statement itemizing contributions, owner-paid expenses and distributions, with your rate basis.
4. Sign, then fax to 855-887-7737 or mail to Internal Revenue Service, 1973 Rulon White Blvd, M/S 6112, Attn: PIN Unit, Ogden, UT 84201.
5. Keep the fax receipt. It is transmission evidence, not IRS acceptance of the return.

For a calendar-year LLC the due date is generally April 15; Form 7004 extends it. Dates are in our deadline guide.

Getting it filed from Colombia

No treaty, a NIT some owners have and others lack, COP conversion, sometimes a Colombian company as a second related party: routine once known, and exactly what makes a DIY filing substantially incomplete.

We prepare the pro forma Form 1120, Form 5472 and the Part V statement; a qualified tax accountant reviews each package; we fax it to the IRS and send you the transmission receipt.

$149 Standard, 5 to 7 business days. $199 Express, within 3 business days. +$99 per additional past tax year. IRS fax delivery included.

We are not a CPA firm and do not give tax advice, US or Colombian. We prepare and submit the US information return.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to file Form 5472 if I live in Medellín?

Yes, if your US single-member LLC had any reportable transaction with you during the year. Where you live changes the FTIN entry and the address, not the obligation, and the form is due even when no US tax is owed.

Is there a tax treaty between the US and Colombia?

No income tax treaty is in force; Colombia is absent from the IRS treaty list. We found no official confirmation that one was ever signed. Either way, Form 5472 is unaffected.

Can I use my cédula de extranjería as my FTIN?

Not as such; it is an identity document. If you are in the RUT, use the NIT on your RUT. If not, write "None". Without a US identifying number, you also need a reference ID.

Are my Stripe client payments reported on Form 5472?

No. Payments from unrelated clients are customer revenue. Transfers from the LLC to your Colombian account are reported, as are your contributions and any LLC expenses you pay personally.

Does the digital-nomad visa change my US filing?

No. It is an immigration status under Cancillería rules. It does not create, remove or alter Form 5472, and it does not replace the 183-day test for Colombian tax residence.

I have missed past years. What now?

File every outstanding year with a reasonable-cause statement, ideally before the IRS contacts you. Each year is a separate filing with its own penalty exposure.

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A missing treaty and the RUT system change a few entries, not whether the form is due. If money moved between you and your US LLC last year, start your filing in about 15 minutes, or read the FTIN and reference ID guide first.

Splitting the year across several countries? The Form 5472 guide for digital nomads covers filing when you have no single tax residence.

Educational content only; not tax or legal advice.