When is Form 5472 due?

The date, and where it comes from

Form 5472 is not filed on its own. It is an attachment, and the attachment inherits the due date of whatever it is attached to.

Swipe the table sideways to see all columns

The overwhelming majority of people reading this are in the first row. Your LLC uses the calendar year, so the Form 5472 for tax year — is due with the pro forma Form 1120 on —.

Extending with Form 7004

There is no extension application for Form 5472 itself. You extend the return, and the attachment moves with it. That is done with Form 7004, the application for an automatic extension of time to file certain business income tax returns.

• It must be filed by the original due date. A Form 7004 sent after 15 April does nothing for that year.
• The extension is automatic when the form is properly and timely filed. There is no approval to wait for.
• Six months is the usual length, moving a calendar-year filer to 15 October.
• It extends time to file, not time to pay. Largely academic for a foreign-owned disregarded entity with no US tax liability, but worth knowing.
• Keep the proof. If lateness is ever questioned, evidence that Form 7004 was filed on time is what establishes the extended date.

A practical note: if the deadline is close and you are not confident in your figures, filing Form 7004 to get to October is usually better than filing a rushed and incomplete Form 5472, because an incomplete form can itself be treated as a failure to file.

Weekends, holidays and what "filed" means

When a due date falls on a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal federal holiday, the return is timely if filed on the next business day. Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia shifts the April date in some years, which is why the tax deadline is occasionally 17 or 18 April rather than the 15th. Check the actual date for your year rather than assuming.

Then there is the question of when a filing counts as made:

• By US mail: the timely-mailing-is-timely-filing rule generally treats a properly addressed return with sufficient postage as filed on its postmark date. Registered or certified mail, and certain designated private delivery services, provide the evidence.
• By fax: the filing happens when the fax is received, not when you send it. Keep the transmission confirmation.
• Electronically, where available: on acceptance of the transmission.

For a foreign owner posting from outside the United States, allow real time. International mail takes as long as it takes, and "I posted it in good time" is a weaker position than a tracked receipt.

Non-calendar tax years

A fiscal-year filer's date is generally the fifteenth day of the fourth month after the end of the tax year. A 30 September year end gives 15 January; a 31 July year end gives 15 November. Corporations with a 30 June year end have historically been subject to different rules, so check the current instructions if that is you.

In practice, almost no foreign-owned single-member LLC has a non-calendar year. Adopting one requires a deliberate election and a business reason. If you never chose a year end, you are on the calendar year.

Your entity's first year

The first filing catches people because the first tax year is usually a short one — from the formation date to 31 December — and because the formation year is exactly when reportable transactions are most likely.

• An LLC formed in November has a first tax year of roughly six weeks, with a Form 5472 due the following 15 April.
• The initial funding transfer is a capital contribution and therefore a reportable transaction.
• Formation fees you paid personally are reportable too.
• So a brand-new LLC that did no business at all frequently still has a first-year filing obligation.

You need an EIN before you can file, and obtaining one as a foreign owner without a US tax number can take weeks by fax or mail. Start that early: an EIN application queue is not a reasonable cause for missing a deadline you had months to prepare for.

Years you have already missed

If a due date has passed without a filing, the position is straightforward even though it does not feel it:

1. The obligation does not lapse. An unfiled year stays unfiled until you file it. Time does not resolve it.
2. Each year is separate. Three missed years means three Forms 5472, each with its own pro forma Form 1120 cover.
3. Filing late is generally better than not filing. Failing to furnish required information can keep the assessment period open for the related tax year, so leaving it unfiled does not start a clock in your favour.
4. Presentation matters. Whether a reasonable-cause statement accompanies the late filings genuinely affects the outcome.
5. Get advice above one year. For a single recent year, filing promptly is often straightforward. For two or more, or where any IRS notice has arrived, take professional input before sending anything.

How the penalty and reasonable cause work →

A sensible timeline

1. January — gather

   Download the full year's bank and payment-processor statements. Note every transfer between you and the entity, plus anything you paid on its behalf.

2. February — total up

   Add the amounts by category: contributions, distributions, loans, services, rent, interest, owner-paid expenses. Record the year-end balance for the total assets line.

3. Early March — draft

   Prepare the Form 5472 and the pro forma Form 1120 cover. Doing this six weeks early leaves room to find the invoice you cannot remember.

4. Late March — decide on an extension

   If anything is still unresolved, file Form 7004 before the original due date and use the extra six months properly.

5. Early April — send with proof

   Post or fax the package to the address in the current instructions, using a tracked method, and keep the receipt.

6. April — diarise next year

   Set a reminder for next January while it is fresh. Most repeat failures happen because nobody wrote it down.

Questions

Read next

If you are lateThe $25,000 penaltyHow it stacks, and how reasonable cause works. Line by lineHow to fill out Form 5472Every part explained in plain English. The cover pagePro forma Form 1120What it is and why the date follows it. Free checkDo I need to file?Eight questions, an honest answer.