Form 5472 for Freelancers Using a US LLC on Upwork, Fiverr and Toptal

If you are a non-US freelancer whose single-member US LLC receives Upwork, Fiverr or Toptal earnings, the LLC files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 for each year it had a reportable transaction with you. Client payouts and platform fees are not reported. Money you withdraw to your personal account, and LLC costs you pay personally, are.

The freelancer pattern is familiar: form a US LLC, open a US business bank account, point platform payouts at it, and move money home every month. The platforms handle the client side. The annual federal information return is left to you.

No platform dashboard tells you what goes on Form 5472, because the form reports dealings between the LLC and its foreign owner, not revenue. The IRS Instructions for Form 5472 state that a $25,000 penalty will be assessed for failure to file when due and in the manner prescribed, and that filing a substantially incomplete form counts as a failure to file. If you want the package handled, we prepare and fax the complete package from $149.

Does a freelancer's US LLC have to file Form 5472?

Yes, in most years. A foreign-owned US single-member LLC files if three things are true: it is a disregarded entity for US tax purposes, its owner is a foreign person, and during the tax year it had at least one reportable transaction with that owner or another foreign related party.

Under Treas. Reg. § 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 a one-person freelance LLC that pays no US corporate tax still files a corporate-style information return.

Freelancers meet the third condition almost automatically. A single withdrawal to your personal account is a reportable transaction, as is money you put in to open the bank account.

Whether the LLC owes US income tax is a separate question with a separate test, covered in does a foreign-owned LLC pay US tax. Form 5472 is due either way.

Which freelance transactions are reportable on Form 5472?

Classify every movement by who is on the other side. Clients, platforms, software vendors and banks are unrelated counterparties. You, and any company you own or control, are related parties.

The instructions' Part V covers amounts "including contributions to, and distributions from, the entity." For a freelancer, the monthly transfer home is that distribution. For non-freelance examples, see reportable transactions examples.

Are Upwork, Fiverr and Toptal payouts reportable?

No, not when the platform pays the LLC for work done for unrelated clients. Customer revenue is not a reportable transaction. Withdrawing a platform balance to the LLC's US bank account is not one either: the money moves between two places the LLC already owns.

Three details matter in practice:

• Whose name is on the platform account. The clean position is a platform profile, payout method and bank account that all belong to the LLC. If earnings land in a personal account first and you then send them to the LLC, that transfer is itself an owner movement. Tell your preparer how your money actually flows.
• Gross versus net. Client billings, the platform's fee and the bank deposit are three different numbers, and none of them is a Form 5472 figure.
• Subcontracting to yourself. If you also own a company in your home country and the LLC pays it for delivery work, that company is a foreign related party. Those payments are reportable and may require a separate Form 5472 for that party.

What do the platforms' own help centres say about tax forms?

We checked the platforms' own help-centre articles on 18 September 2026. We quote only what they state.

• Upwork. Its help article "How to complete Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E" says non-US freelancers must complete one of those forms before they can withdraw earnings, and that without one Upwork may be required to withhold up to 30% of future earnings and send it to the IRS. The same article says an entity that is not an individual, corporation or partnership selects "other entity type or claiming treaty benefits" and submits the IRS form to Upwork's tax team. Upwork's article "Learn about the Freelancer Service Fee" states that the fee ranges from 0% to 15% per contract.
• Fiverr. Its "W-9 collection" article says every freelancer must declare whether they are a US person, and US persons go through the W-9 process. Its "Freelancer taxes" article says freelancers are responsible for their local tax obligations, and that Fiverr can issue a statement of earnings for completed calendar years under My business, Earnings, Financial documents.
• Toptal. We did not find a public Toptal help-centre article on tax forms or payout mechanics that we could fetch and quote, so we make no Toptal-specific claim. Use the payment records in your own Toptal account.

Which withholding form you give a platform, and why a disregarded LLC's foreign owner generally does not sign Form W-9, is covered in W-8BEN vs W-9 for a foreign-owned LLC. The IRS Instructions for Form W-8BEN are the primary source. That form goes to the payer. It does not replace Form 5472.

How does a freelancer's year reach Form 5472?

Consider this illustrative example created for this guide, not client data. A non-US developer owns a disregarded Wyoming LLC. All platform accounts and payouts are in the LLC's name. The LLC's US bank account starts the year with $5,000. The fee amounts below are assumptions for the example, not a statement of any platform's rate.

Revenue arithmetic. Gross client billings are $60,000 + $20,000 + $30,000 = $110,000. Platform fees are $6,000 + $4,000 = $10,000. Net payouts are $110,000 − $10,000 = $100,000.

Bank arithmetic. Opening $5,000 + payouts $100,000 − vendor bills $4,800 − owner transfers $72,000 = $28,200 closing balance. The two personally paid items never touch the LLC bank account, so they do not appear in this line.

Form 5472 arithmetic. The owner movements reviewed for the filing are $72,000 out to the owner and $3,500 of LLC costs the owner paid ($2,200 + $1,300), a total of $75,500. Report the amounts in their proper categories and directions. Do not net the $3,500 the owner put in against the $72,000 the owner took out, and do not report the $110,000, the $100,000 or the $10,000 at all.

If the LLC later reimburses the owner for the laptop, that reimbursement is a second reportable movement. Keep the original receipt and the reimbursement transfer together.

What records should a freelancer keep for the filing?

Build the file once a year.

1. Download each platform's annual earnings or transaction report for the calendar year.
2. Export the LLC's bank statements and any business card statements for the same period.
3. Reconcile gross client billings, platform fees and net payouts to bank deposits.
4. List every transfer between the LLC and your personal accounts, with date, direction and amount.
5. List every LLC cost you paid personally, with the invoice and payment proof.
6. Decide, and write down, whether each owner movement is a contribution, distribution, loan or reimbursement.
7. Convert any non-USD amounts to US dollars and record the rate and its source.
8. Keep the signed package, the schedule and the fax receipt together.

The $25,000 penalty also applies to a failure to maintain the required records.

When and how is the freelancer's LLC filing made?

For a calendar-year LLC, the 2025 Form 5472 package is generally due 15 April 2026. A timely Form 7004, filed under the special instructions for foreign-owned disregarded entities, extends it.

The package is Form 5472 attached to a pro forma Form 1120 with "Foreign-owned U.S. DE" written across the top of page 1. On the pro forma 1120, only the LLC's name and address and items B and E are required. When you have no US taxpayer identification number, the Form 5472 instructions provide for a foreign tax identifying number and a reference ID number.

1. Prepare Form 5472 and the Part V statement from your owner-movement schedule.
2. Prepare the pro forma Form 1120 with the "Foreign-owned U.S. DE" header.
3. Sign and date the Form 1120.
4. Fax the package to the IRS at 855-887-7737, or mail it to Internal Revenue Service, 1973 Rulon White Blvd, M/S 6112, Attn: PIN Unit, Ogden, UT 84201. It cannot be e-filed.
5. Keep the fax receipt. A fax receipt is transmission evidence, not IRS acceptance of the return.

The IRS's About Form 5472 page links the current form and instructions.

How can Form5472 Prep handle a freelancer's filing?

We prepare Form 5472, the pro forma Form 1120 and the Part V statement from your platform reports and owner-movement schedule. A qualified tax accountant reviews each package, and we fax it to the IRS and send you the timestamped receipt.

Standard is $149, ready in 5–7 business days. Express is $199, ready within 3 business days. Each additional past tax year is +$99. IRS fax delivery is included.

We are not a CPA firm and do not give tax advice. We prepare and submit the information return. Withholding forms, treaty claims, whether your income is effectively connected with a US trade or business, and your home-country tax are questions for the appropriate adviser. If you travel between countries while freelancing, the residence questions are covered in Form 5472 for digital nomads.

Frequently asked questions

Do Upwork earnings go on Form 5472?

No. Payments from unrelated clients, paid through Upwork into the LLC, are customer revenue. Form 5472 reports transactions between the LLC and its foreign owner or other foreign related parties, not client income.

Is the Upwork or Fiverr fee a related-party transaction?

No. The platform is an unrelated service provider, so its fee is an ordinary operating expense of the LLC. It belongs in the books, not on Form 5472.

Is moving money from the LLC to my personal account reportable?

Yes. A transfer from the LLC to its foreign owner is a reportable movement, usually a distribution. Report the year's total in the proper category rather than listing it as unexplained cash.

I paid for my laptop personally. Does that count?

Generally yes. When you fund an LLC cost from personal money, that is a movement between owner and LLC. Record it as a contribution, loan or reimbursable amount and keep the receipt.

Does giving Upwork a W-8BEN replace Form 5472?

No. A W-8 form goes to the payer to document foreign status for withholding. Form 5472 is a separate annual information return the LLC files with the IRS.

My LLC earned nothing this year. Do I still file?

Possibly. If you funded the LLC, paid its fees personally or withdrew money, a reportable transaction exists even with no client revenue. A year with no owner movements at all may not require the form.

Do I file one Form 5472 for each platform?

No. The form is filed per foreign related party, not per platform. A freelancer who is the sole owner usually files one Form 5472 for all platforms combined.

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Your platform dashboards show what you earned; your owner transfers show what Form 5472 reports. Start your freelancer LLC's Form 5472 package, or see how the rules apply to the owner's withholding forms in W-8BEN vs W-9 for a foreign-owned LLC.

Educational content only; not tax or legal advice.