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The IRS can assess $25,000 per Form 5472, per year, often automatically when a late return is processed, and another $25,000 per 30 days once 90 days pass after a notice.
Use this as a statutory exposure estimate, then compare it with the ordinary catch-up route: file the missing Form 5472 package and include a reasonable-cause statement under DIIRSP.
Initial penalty
1 × 1 × $25,000
$25,000
Total statutory exposure
Based on the counts and notice status entered above.
$25,000
If you're not under IRS examination and the IRS hasn't contacted you about the missing returns, its Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures (DIIRSP) say to file them through normal filing procedures, and you may attach a reasonable-cause statement. The IRS can excuse these penalties for reasonable cause, deciding each case on its facts; there is no guarantee, and First Time Abate generally does not apply.
Read the late-filing overview for DIIRSP late-filing steps and the reasonable-cause letter guide for abatement letter requirements.
Statutory exposure under IRC §6038A(d), not a prediction of what the IRS will assess. How we calculate this
How the penalty works
The initial penalty applies per Form 5472, per year, and continuation penalties can add more after an IRS notice. We show both pieces together because the calculator is a statutory exposure estimate, not a prediction, and the ordinary next step is still to fix the filing with the missing package and reasonable-cause statement.
The initial penalty is $25,000 per Form 5472, per year. We use it as a statutory exposure estimate because the IRS can assess it when required Form 5472 information is late, missing, or substantially incomplete (often automatically when a late return is processed), before you compare the number with the ordinary catch-up route.
After an IRS notice, there is a 90-day correction period. If the filing is still not fixed after that window, the statute adds $25,000 for each 30-day period or part of one, so we treat the notice timeline separately from the initial per-form, per-year penalty estimate.
Common triggers are never filing, filing Form 5472 without the required pro forma Form 1120, or sending an incomplete package. We also flag no-income cases, since a foreign-owned disregarded LLC can still have a filing obligation when reportable transactions include contributions, distributions, and other owner-LLC activity.
If the IRS has not contacted you yet, the relief path is a DIIRSP filing that pairs late information returns with a reasonable-cause statement. We follow the ordinary catch-up route described above: file the missing Form 5472 package, include the statement, and ask the IRS to abate penalties when the facts support reasonable cause.
How we calculate this
The figures come from IRC §6038A(d) and the IRS's own guidance. Each rule below links to its primary source.
The statute sets $25,000 for each taxable year a reporting corporation fails to furnish the information, and the IRS applies it to each failure to file a complete and correct Form 5472. We count one Form 5472 per LLC per year, which assumes one related party (usually the foreign owner). The IRS manual asserts the initial penalty once per related party per taxable year, so an LLC that dealt with more related parties can face more.
If the failure continues more than 90 days after the IRS mails notice of it, another $25,000 applies for each 30-day period or part of one. The statute counts from the day the notice is mailed; we use the notice date you enter. Day 91 starts the first period and each further 30 days (or part) adds one, per LLC per year, up to today. The IRS says there is no maximum penalty amount.
The IRS manual says the penalty may be assessed systemically during initial processing of a late Form 5472 attached to a late Form 1120, and that a CP 215 Notice of Penalty Charge is sent once a penalty is assessed. That is why the calculator treats the initial penalty as exposure from the day a return is late.
Relief. The IRS can excuse a late Form 5472 for reasonable cause, case by case, and must apply that rule liberally to small corporations that meet its conditions. If reasonable cause existed, the 90-day period starts no earlier than the last day it did. First Time Abate isn't on the IRS's list of eligible penalties. The calculator shows none of these reductions.
If you're not under IRS examination or investigation and haven't been contacted about the missing returns, the IRS says to file them through normal filing procedures, and you may attach a reasonable-cause statement. Penalties may still be assessed.
The time to assess tax for a return or period the Form 5472 information relates to doesn't expire until 3 years after the IRS is furnished that information, so that 3-year period hasn't started while the form is unfiled. If the failure was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect, the rule covers only the related items.
Last reviewed 29 September 2026 against IRC §6038A(d), Treas. Reg. §1.6038A-4, the Form 5472 instructions (Rev. 12/2024), IRM 20.1.9 and the IRS pages linked above. General information, not tax advice.
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It can be. IRC §6038A(d) sets an initial $25,000 penalty when a reporting corporation doesn't furnish the required Form 5472 information on time, and a substantially incomplete Form 5472 counts as not filed. The IRS manual says the penalty may be assessed systemically when a late Form 5472 is processed with a late Form 1120.
Possibly, but there is no guarantee. Treas. Reg. §1.6038A-4(b) lets the IRS excuse a late Form 5472 for reasonable cause, decided case by case. First Time Abate generally does not apply to Form 5472 penalties.
It is the IRS's Notice of Penalty Charge. The IRS manual says a CP 215 is generated and sent once a Form 5472 penalty is assessed. Once the IRS has notified you of the failure, continuation penalties can start 90 days later if the filing is still not corrected.
No. A foreign-owned disregarded LLC can still have a Form 5472 and pro forma Form 1120 filing obligation even when it had no income, because reportable transactions can include contributions, distributions, and other owner-LLC activity.
Under IRC §6501(c)(8), the time to assess tax for a return or period the Form 5472 information relates to does not expire until 3 years after the IRS is furnished that information. Read the Form 5472 statute of limitations guide.
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