Form 5472 Deadlines for 2026 and 2027: Every Date a Foreign-Owned LLC Needs
The 2025 tax year Form 5472 is due 15 October 2026 if you extended. Here are all the deadlines, the extension rule that trips up foreign-owned LLCs, and what to do if a date has already passed.
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For a calendar-year foreign-owned US LLC, Form 5472 with its pro forma Form 1120 is due 15 April of the following year, extended to 15 October if Form 7004 was filed on time. The 2025 tax year return was due 15 April 2026, or 15 October 2026 with an extension. The 2026 tax year return is due 15 April 2027.
Form 5472 deadlines are simple in outline and easy to miss in practice, because the filing sits outside every system that would normally remind you. It is not e-filed, no software prompts you, and the IRS sends no acknowledgement when it arrives. The first signal that something went wrong is usually a $25,000 penalty notice a year later.
Here is the full calendar as it stands in August 2026, plus the extension rule that is specific to foreign-owned disregarded entities and catches out people who assume Form 7004 works the way it does for everyone else.
If a date has already passed for you, we prepare and fax complete late packages with a reasonable cause letter from $149.
The deadline calendar
| Tax year | Standard due date | Extended due date (with Form 7004) | Status as of August 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 15 April 2025 | 15 October 2025 | Both passed — file late now |
| 2025 | 15 April 2026 | 15 October 2026 | Extension deadline approaching |
| 2026 | 15 April 2027 | 15 October 2027 | Upcoming |
| 2027 | 15 April 2028 | 15 October 2028 | Upcoming |
If a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, it moves to the next business day.
The date that matters most right now is 15 October 2026 — the extended deadline for the 2025 tax year. If you filed Form 7004 by 15 April 2026, that is your final date and there is no further extension. If you did not file Form 7004, your 2025 return has been late since 16 April 2026 and the penalty exposure is already running.
When is Form 5472 due?
Form 5472 is filed as an attachment to the reporting corporation's income tax return, and it is due by the due date of that return, including extensions. For a foreign-owned US disregarded entity, that return is the pro forma Form 1120.
For a calendar-year LLC — which is the default and covers almost every foreign-owned LLC — that means 15 April of the following year.
For a fiscal-year LLC, the due date is the 15th day of the fourth month after the end of the tax year. A tax year ending 30 June is due 15 October.
The due date does not change based on:
- Whether the LLC had any revenue
- Whether you owe any US tax
- Whether you live outside the United States
- Whether the LLC was dormant all year
- Whether this is your first year of filing
How does the Form 5472 extension work?
You extend by filing Form 7004 by the regular due date. That buys six months, to 15 October for a calendar-year LLC. There is no second extension.
The part that is specific to foreign-owned LLCs, and that catches people out: you cannot file Form 7004 the normal way. The IRS Form 5472 instructions direct a foreign-owned US DE to "fax or mail the Form 7004 to the fax number or mailing address identified earlier, by the due date (excluding extensions) of the return."
"The fax number or mailing address identified earlier" is the Ogden PIN Unit — the same destination as the Form 5472 package itself:
- Fax: 855-887-7737
- Mail: Internal Revenue Service, 1973 Rulon White Blvd, M/S 6112, Attn: PIN Unit, Ogden, UT 84201
So an extension request e-filed through ordinary tax software, or mailed to the standard Form 7004 service centre, may never reach the unit that processes your return. Owners who did that in good faith can find the extension was never recorded and the return treated as late — with the penalty attached. Keep the timestamped fax confirmation for the Form 7004 exactly as you would for the return.
Full detail is in our Form 5472 extension guide.
What happens if you miss the deadline?
The penalty is $25,000 per form, per year, under IRC § 6038A(d). The IRS Instructions for Form 5472 state it directly: "A penalty of $25,000 will be assessed on any reporting corporation that fails to file Form 5472 when due and in the manner prescribed."
Three features of the penalty make missing a deadline more serious than it first looks:
- It is systemic. No one weighs your circumstances before it is assessed. A computer notices the missing return and charges the penalty.
- A substantially incomplete return counts as a failure to file. Filing on time but wrong can produce the same $25,000 as not filing at all.
- It escalates. If the failure continues more than 90 days after IRS notification, the instructions provide for an additional $25,000 penalty, with further amounts for continued non-compliance.
The penalty has no relationship to the size of your business. A dormant LLC with $500 of lifetime activity and a company with $10 million in revenue face the same $25,000 for the same missing form. That is the structural reason deadlines matter more here than in most small-business compliance.
What if the deadline has already passed?
File anyway, as soon as possible, with a reasonable cause statement. There is no version of waiting that improves your position.
The sequence:
- Identify every affected year. Include the year the LLC was formed and funded — the initial capital contribution is a reportable transaction, so the formation year almost always requires a filing.
- Prepare a complete package for each year. Pro forma Form 1120 with "Foreign-owned U.S. DE" across the top, Form 5472, and the Part V supporting statement — using the form revision applicable to that year.
- Write a reasonable cause statement covering the full period, signed under penalties of perjury, with a specific dated chronology rather than a general explanation.
- Fax the whole set to the Ogden PIN Unit and keep the timestamped receipt.
One thing to know before you send it, because most catch-up guides omit it. The IRS's delinquent international information return submission procedures page, reviewed 19 April 2026, states: "During the processing of the delinquent information return, penalties may be assessed without considering the attached reasonable cause statement." Forms 3520 and 3520-A get an explicit exception; Form 5472 does not.
That does not make the statement pointless — the same page notes you may need to submit or resubmit reasonable cause information in response to IRS correspondence. It means you should expect a possible penalty notice even after doing the catch-up filing properly, and be ready to respond. Our guide on responding to a Form 5472 penalty notice covers that stage.
Filing voluntarily before the IRS contacts you also matters for eligibility: the delinquent procedures require that you are not under examination and have not already been contacted about the delinquent returns.
A calendar that keeps you out of trouble
Because nothing in your normal software stack will remind you, set these yourself:
| When | Action |
|---|---|
| Early January | Export the LLC's full-year bank and payment-processor statements |
| Mid January | Total every transfer between you and the LLC, both directions, in USD |
| Early March | Prepare and send the Form 5472 package — well ahead of the deadline |
| By 15 April | Absolute deadline. If not ready, fax Form 7004 to the Ogden PIN Unit |
| By 15 October | Extended deadline, if you extended. No further extension exists |
| State anniversary month | Annual report and franchise or license tax |
Filing in March rather than April is not fussiness. Fax transmissions to the IRS fail, get busy signals, and occasionally need re-sending — and the fax receipt only helps you if it is dated before the deadline. Leaving a two-to-four week buffer converts a hard deadline into a soft one.
Note that the March buffer also gives you time to discover that a prior year was missed, which is far more common than owners expect. If you find one, you are catching up voluntarily rather than after IRS contact — a materially better position.
Meeting the deadline without doing the work
Form5472 Prep prepares the complete package — Form 5472, the pro forma Form 1120, and the Part V supporting statement — has it reviewed by a qualified tax accountant, and faxes it to the IRS Ogden PIN Unit, returning the timestamped confirmation receipt as your proof of timely filing. For late years we include a reasonable cause cover letter.
$149 standard, ready in 5-7 business days. $199 express, ready in 3 business days. +$99 per additional past tax year. IRS fax delivery included on both.
With the 15 October 2026 extended deadline in view: standard turnaround needs you to start by roughly the end of September; express covers you into early October. Starting earlier is always cheaper than starting later, because the express upgrade exists precisely to buy back time you have already spent.
We are not a CPA firm and do not give tax advice. We prepare and submit the information return, on time.
Start your filing — about 15 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
When is Form 5472 due for the 2025 tax year?
15 April 2026 for a calendar-year LLC, or 15 October 2026 if Form 7004 was filed with the Ogden PIN Unit by 15 April 2026. There is no extension beyond 15 October.
Can I get an extension for Form 5472?
Yes — file Form 7004 by the regular due date for a six-month extension. A foreign-owned US DE must fax or mail Form 7004 to the same Ogden PIN Unit fax number or address used for the return itself, not through ordinary e-file channels.
Is there an automatic extension because I live outside the United States?
Do not rely on one. Some corporations that keep their books and records outside the United States qualify for an automatic extension under Regulations § 1.6081-5, but the Form 5472 instructions do not address that route for a pro forma Form 1120 filed by a foreign-owned DE. Filing Form 7004 by 15 April is the safe course.
What is the penalty for filing Form 5472 late?
$25,000 per form, per year, under IRC § 6038A(d). An additional $25,000 applies if the failure continues more than 90 days after IRS notification. The penalty is unrelated to the LLC's income.
How long does the IRS take to confirm receipt?
It does not. The IRS sends no acknowledgement for a foreign-owned DE's Form 5472 package. Your timestamped fax confirmation receipt is the only evidence of filing, so keep it permanently.
Does the deadline change if my LLC had no activity?
No. If the LLC had any reportable transaction — including the capital contribution that funded its bank account — the same 15 April deadline applies. See Form 5472 for a dormant LLC.
What if I missed several years?
File all of them together with one reasonable cause statement, as soon as possible. Each unfiled year carries its own $25,000 exposure, and the delinquent procedures require that the IRS has not already contacted you about them.
15 October 2026 is the live date for the 2025 tax year. After that, the next one is 15 April 2027 — and the best time to prepare it is January, not April.
Start your filing, or read the extension rules in detail if you need more time.