IRS forms 5471, 5472, 8865, 8621, etc.

Foreign reporting compliance

Our client base is very diverse in terms of nationality & places lived/worked. For this reason, we have countless clients that must report their interests in non-US companies, partnerships, or investments as a component of their annual regulatory compliance. A few notes below about these filings:

• • If you had a controlling interest in a foreign corporation or partnership, you may have to file forms 5471 or 8865
  • You may or may not be taxed on these companies. However, leaving them off of your return can lead to strict penalties. For instance, the penalty for noncompliance of 5471 filing requirements is $10,000
  • You may be a US person, but through your investment (or co-investment) into a private equity partnership, you may be liable for 8865s. We have many private equity clients with this filing requirement
  • You may have a foreign mutual fund or ETF that is considered a PFIC, requiring for 8621 to be filed. These are complex and require analysis of the underlying equity portfolio to be reported correctly
  • If your foreign account is actually a trust, you may have to file forms 3520 and/or 3520-A. 
  • Certain type of foreign retirement funds may also require similar reporting, depending on the structure.  
  • If you are delinquent with any of these filings, please contact us immediately. 

Contact us below for assistance. 

Reporting of foreign ownership

Aside from the ownership disclosures described above, you may need to disclose foreign ownership of a company to the IRS on form 5472. 

• Corporations with a foreign ownership percentage of 25% or more must file this form. Penalty for failure-to-file is $25,000. It is critical that this is considered. 
  
• Even if the company is a “disregarded entity,” such as a schedule C filer (single-member LLC), you must file this form.
• Contact us below for questions if you need to file this form & we can send you the checklist of items we need.
• If you are delinquent with this filing, we know how to assist with that, as well.

Note that absolutely none of the above for either section is professional advice unless you have retained us to examine applicability to your case. Also note that tax information changes frequently with the law. 

George Dimov CPA and his team offer full international tax compliance services. We provide a fast and accurate experience. Give us a call to learn more about our individual tax services today.