Form 5472 vs Form 1120 — What's the Difference?

Form 1120 (U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return) is the standard tax return that domestic corporations use to report income, deductions, and calculate corporate income tax. For a real C-corporation operating in the US, it's a substantive 6-page tax calculation: revenue, cost of goods sold, deductions, taxable income, tax owed.

For a foreign-owned US single-member LLC, your LLC is treated as a disregarded entity for tax purposes — meaning the LLC itself doesn't pay corporate income tax. Profits flow through to you, the owner, taxable in your home country.

But the IRS still wants the 1120 as the procedural "envelope" for Form 5472. So you file the form "pro forma" with only the identification fields completed and "Foreign-Owned U.S. DE" written across the top. Income, deductions, tax calculation — all blank.

Form 5472 (Information Return of a 25% Foreign-Owned U.S. Corporation or a Foreign Corporation Engaged in a U.S. Trade or Business) is an information return — meaning it reports transactions but does NOT calculate any tax. It's specifically designed for cases where a foreign person owns 25% or more of a US corporation or disregarded entity.

Since 2017, the IRS extended this requirement to single-member LLCs owned by non-US persons. Even though those LLCs are normally disregarded for US tax purposes, they are treated as corporations for §6038A reporting.

Form 5472 reports related-party transactions: capital you contributed to the LLC, distributions you took out, payments to or from related parties, loans, rents, royalties — anything that moved value between the LLC and you (or any entity you also control).

Form 5472 by itself is not a valid IRS submission. The IRS requires it to be attached to a tax return. For foreign-owned disregarded entities, the IRS chose Form 1120 as the attachment vehicle — even though the LLC doesn't owe corporate income tax.

Think of it like an envelope: the 1120 is the envelope, the 5472 is the letter inside. The IRS Ogden PIN Unit won't process the letter without the envelope.

This pairing exists because the IRS infrastructure for international information return processing is built around corporate-return filing channels. There's no standalone process for filing Form 5472 outside of a 1120.

Form 1120 (pro forma version for foreign-owned DEs):

• Purpose: corporate income tax return — used as procedural envelope here.
• Pages: 6 standard, but most are blank for foreign-owned DEs.
• What you fill in: name, address, item B (EIN), applicable item E boxes; signature workflow considered separately.
• What's blank: income, deductions, COGS, tax calculation.
• Special: "Foreign-Owned U.S. DE" stamped across the top of page 1.
• Tax owed: $0 (because the LLC is disregarded).

Form 5472:

• Purpose: information return reporting related-party transactions.
• Pages: 2 substantive pages.
• What you fill in: Part I (reporting corporation = your LLC), Part II (25% foreign shareholder = you), Part III (related party = you again for single-member), Part IV (monetary transactions, usually blank), Part V (reportable transactions — capital in, distributions out), Part VII (additional-information questions).
• Required attachments: Part V supporting statement listing each transaction.
• Tax owed: $0 (informational only).

Filed together as one package, faxed to +1-855-887-7737.

These forms come up in foreign-owner Google searches but are NOT what you file for a single-member, foreign-owned, disregarded LLC:

• Form 1120-S — for S-corporations. LLCs can elect S-corp status but foreign persons cannot own S-corp stock, so this is not relevant.
• Form 1120-F — for foreign corporations engaged in US trade or business. Your LLC is a US entity, not a foreign one, so 1120-F doesn't apply (unless your LLC is itself owned by a foreign corporation that needs to file).
• Form 1065 — partnership return. Only applies if your LLC has 2+ members.
• Form 1040-NR — personal return for non-resident individuals with US-source income. Only required if YOU personally have US-source income.
• Form 8865 — for foreign partnerships. Not applicable to single-member LLCs.

The correct combo for the standard foreign-owned single-member LLC: pro forma Form 1120 + Form 5472 + Part V supporting statement + (if late) Reasonable Cause Statement.

No, filing pro forma Form 1120 does not make your LLC subject to U.S. corporate income tax. The LLC remains disregarded for tax purposes, and tax on LLC profits, if any, flows through to you personally rather than through the pro forma cover.

Your LLC remains a disregarded entity for tax purposes. The 1120 is purely the procedural vehicle for filing Form 5472 — not a real income tax return for your LLC.

Tax on LLC profits (if any) flows through to you personally:

• If your LLC has no US-source income that's effectively connected with a US trade or business: $0 US tax. Income is taxable in your home country only.
• If your LLC has US-source effectively connected income: you'd file Form 1040-NR personally, separate from the pro forma 1120.

Most foreign-owned single-member LLCs (ecommerce, SaaS, consulting, dropshipping with non-US customers) are in the first bucket. They file pro forma 1120 + Form 5472 as informational and owe no US tax.

"If I file Form 1120, am I now treated as a corporation?" — No. The 1120 you file is "pro forma" — explicitly marked as Foreign-Owned U.S. DE. The IRS recognizes it as a procedural vehicle for Form 5472, not as a real corporate tax return. Your LLC stays a disregarded entity.

"My CPA said I need a full 1120, not pro forma." — Get a second opinion. Most US CPAs see this filing once or twice in their career. A full 1120 (with income, deductions, tax calculation) would actually be wrong for a disregarded entity.

"I only filled out Form 5472, not the 1120 — should be fine?" — No. The IRS will reject the standalone 5472 (or treat it as not filed and assess the $25,000 penalty). The pro forma 1120 envelope is mandatory.

"I forgot to write 'Foreign-Owned U.S. DE' on the 1120 — is that fatal?" — Not fatal, but it can cause processing delays and routing errors at Ogden. The stamp tells the Ogden PIN Unit how to process the return. Always include it.

Physical / faxed order of the package:

1. Cover letter (1 page)
2. Pro forma Form 1120 (1-2 pages, stamped "Foreign-Owned U.S. DE")
3. Form 5472 (2 pages)
4. Part V supporting statement (1+ pages depending on transaction count)
5. Reasonable Cause Statement (1-2 pages, only if filing late under DIIRSP)

Total package: typically 5-8 pages.

Fax destination: +1-855-887-7737 (IRS Ogden PIN Unit).
Or mail: Internal Revenue Service, 1973 Rulon White Blvd, M/S 6112, Attn: PIN Unit, Ogden, UT 84201.

The whole package is one filing. You fax it together, you get one transmission receipt covering the entire package as transmission evidence.

When you complete our wizard, we generate the complete package automatically:

• Cover letter introducing the filing.
• Pro forma Form 1120 with the "Foreign-Owned U.S. DE" stamp and your entity info.
• Form 5472 fully filled in (Parts I, II, III, IV, V, VII as needed).
• Part V supporting statement listing each reportable transaction.
• Reasonable Cause Statement (only if the filing is late).

You sign once on screen. An accountant on our team reviews it. We fax to the IRS Ogden PIN Unit and email you the timestamped receipt as transmission evidence.

Both forms together (cover letter, pro forma 1120, Form 5472, Part V supporting statement) for one year:

• 1 tax year: $149 Standard / $199 Express (fax included)
• 2 tax years (DIIRSP catch-up): $248 Standard / $298 Express (fax included)
• 3 tax years (DIIRSP catch-up): $347 Standard / $397 Express (fax included)

100% money-back guarantee if we fail to submit your filing to the IRS.