Form 5472 Guide
Form 5472: the $25,000 penalty nobody warns you about.
If you're a non-US founder with a US entity, the IRS requires you to file Form 5472. Miss it and you owe $25,000 — per form, per year.
$25k
Penalty per form
100%
Foreign-owned must file
Apr 15
Filing deadline
$0
Revenue threshold
What it is
An IRS filing you can't afford to miss.
Form 5472 is an IRS information return filed by any US corporation or LLC with a "25% foreign owner" that has "reportable transactions" with that foreign owner.
In practice, this means almost every US company owned by a non-US founder. If you're from India, Nigeria, the UK, Brazil — anywhere outside the US — and you own a US entity, you almost certainly need to file.
"Reportable transactions" include capital contributions, loans, paying yourself, or providing services to your US entity from abroad. Even a $1 transaction triggers the filing requirement.
The penalty is real — and it compounds.
The IRS imposes a $25,000 penalty for each Form 5472 that's not filed, filed late, or filed incorrectly. If you have multiple reportable transactions or multiple years of non-filing, the penalties stack. Reasonable cause abatement exists but is difficult to obtain.
Common mistakes
What founders get wrong.
Not knowing it exists
Most formation services don't mention Form 5472. Founders discover it when they get a penalty notice or during their first tax filing.
Thinking it only applies to large companies
There's no revenue threshold. If your US entity has a foreign owner, you must file — even if the company earned $0.
Filing late or incompletely
Late filing triggers the $25,000 penalty. Incomplete filings are treated as not filed. The IRS is strict on this.
Using a tax preparer who doesn't know international rules
Many US accountants aren't familiar with Form 5472. It requires specific knowledge of foreign-owned entity reporting.
How Corppy handles it
Form 5472, included.
Auto-generated from your dashboard
Form 5472 is built from the transaction data already in your Corppy dashboard. No manual data entry, no hunting for records.
Filed as part of annual compliance
Included in your $500 first-year price and $350 renewal. Not an add-on, not an upsell, not a premium tier feature.
Deadline tracking built in
We surface the filing deadline before it becomes a penalty. Reminders, auto-generation, filing — all handled.
Don't eat a $25,000 penalty. Let us handle Form 5472.
Auto-generated, auto-filed, included in your plan. No extra cost. No extra effort.
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