Form 5472 for SaaS Founders with US LLCs
Updated June 2026 · Reviewed by a Form 5472 specialist
Updated June 2026 · Reviewed by a Form 5472 specialist
The short answer
Key takeaways
Tools like Stripe Atlas make forming a US LLC trivial — under 1 day — but they do not handle the annual Form 5472 filing. Thousands of foreign founders launch a US SaaS entity and never learn about the $25,000 requirement until a penalty notice arrives.
The modern SaaS playbook for a non-US founder is well worn: form a US LLC to accept Stripe payments, open a US bank account, and bill customers in dollars. Formation platforms optimize for speed, so the entity is live within a day. What almost none of them surface clearly is that a foreign-owned US LLC carries an annual federal information return the year after — and every year after that.
Because the LLC is a disregarded entity, founders assume there is no US filing if they owe no US income tax. That is the trap. Form 5472 is a disclosure, not a tax payment, and it is owed whether or not the SaaS turned a profit. If you came here from a formation platform, our pricing page shows exactly what the annual filing costs versus the alternatives.
Any US LLC that is at least 25% owned by a non-US person and had a reportable transaction must file. For a solo non-resident SaaS founder with a single-member LLC, both conditions are met almost immediately, so over 95% must file.
Two facts must be true: a foreign person owns at least 25% of the US entity, and the entity had a reportable transaction with that owner or another related foreign party. A solo founder owns 100%, and funding the LLC to cover Stripe fees, hosting, or the formation invoice is itself a reportable transaction. That is why virtually every foreign-owned single-member LLC has a reportable transaction in its first year.
| Founder setup | Files Form 5472? | Filed with |
|---|---|---|
| Non-resident solo founder, single-member LLC | Yes — almost always | Pro forma Form 1120 |
| Non-resident founders, multi-member LLC | Generally no (partnership) | Form 1065 / K-1 |
| Foreign-owned US C-corporation (25%+) | Yes — if reportable transaction | Form 1120 |
| US-resident founder, no foreign owner | No | — |
Source: IRC §6038A; IRS Instructions for Form 5472. Verified June 2026.
The single-member case is the most common for SaaS, and it is covered end to end on our foreign-owned single-member LLC guide.
Yes, when the owner is a non-US person. Stripe Atlas charges roughly $500 to form the entity and get an EIN, but it does not file your annual Form 5472. That obligation stays with you every 1 tax year.
Stripe Atlas, Firstbase, and doola are all formation-and-compliance platforms, but their formation product ends once the LLC exists. The recurring Form 5472 + pro forma 1120 is either an add-on or simply not included, and many founders never realize the annual return is separate from formation. If you set up through Atlas, see our freelancer filing guide for a sister walkthrough of the same obligation.
| Provider | Annual compliance price | Includes Form 5472 filing |
|---|---|---|
| doola | $1,999/year | Bundled but expensive |
| Firstbase | $999-$1,499/year | Add-on tier |
| form5472.online | $547 | Yes, single filing |
| form5472.tax | $299 | Yes, flat fee |
Source: published provider pricing, June 2026. Verified June 2026.
A flat $299 filing saves $248 versus form5472.online and roughly $1,700 versus doola for the identical federal forms. Start on the apply page.
Any money moving between the founder and the LLC: capital contributions, owner loans, paying the formation fee, or distributions. Even 1 such event during the year triggers Form 5472, regardless of SaaS revenue.
Reportable transactions are about money flow with related parties, not profit. For a SaaS founder, the most common triggers are putting personal money in to cover Stripe fees, AWS or Vercel hosting, or the formation invoice — and later taking earnings out. Each is reportable.
Practically, a SaaS LLC almost never has a truly zero-transaction year. The capital you contribute to launch and operate the product is itself reportable, which is why a pre-revenue or losing-money SaaS still files. The mechanics of attaching these amounts are explained on our pro forma 1120 page.
You cannot e-file. The pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached must be mailed to P.O. Box 149342, Austin, TX 78714-9342, or faxed to 855-887-7737. Keep the certified-mail receipt or fax confirmation as proof.
There is no electronic filing path for a foreign-owned disregarded entity. Living overseas does not change this: the only two accepted methods are international mail and fax, and the filing must reach the IRS by the deadline. Most non-US founders fax for speed and keep the transmission confirmation.
| Method | Where | Proof to keep |
|---|---|---|
| P.O. Box 149342, Austin, TX 78714-9342 | Certified-mail receipt | |
| Fax | 855-887-7737 | Fax transmission confirmation |
Source: IRS Instructions for Form 5472 (foreign-owned U.S. DE). Verified June 2026.
The disregarded-entity-as-corporation rule has applied since 2017 under T.D. 9796, which is what forces the pro forma 1120 wrapper around your Form 5472.
Form 5472 for the 2025 tax year is due April 15, 2026, filed with the pro forma Form 1120. Filing Form 7004 by April 15 extends the deadline to October 15, 2026.
The deadline is the 15th day of the 4th month after the tax year ends — April 15 for a calendar-year LLC, which is how nearly every SaaS LLC is set up. The six-month extension via Form 7004 only extends filing; a disregarded entity has no entity-level tax to pay, so there is nothing to remit alongside it. Build the date into your annual founder calendar so it never slips.
The penalty is $25,000 per form, per year, under IRC §6038A(d), with no cap and no statute of limitations (§6501(c)(8)). An additional $25,000 accrues every 30 days after a 90-day IRS notice.
Form 5472 carries one of the harshest information-return penalties in the tax code. Because there is no statute of limitations on an unfiled information return, a year a founder missed three years ago can still be assessed today, and the additional $25,000 increments compound the exposure quickly after a notice.
We prepare and file the return correctly so it does not happen — we do not offer IRS representation or penalty-abatement work. Read the full rule on the Form 5472 penalty page.
Generally no. Under FinCEN’s March 2025 interim final rule, US-formed entities — including foreign-owned US LLCs — are exempt from beneficial ownership reporting. Only foreign reporting companies file BOI. Form 5472 is separate and still required.
Many founders conflate BOI and Form 5472 because both touch foreign ownership. They are different obligations. Following the March 2025 interim final rule, domestically formed companies no longer file a beneficial ownership information report; the requirement now reaches only foreign reporting companies registered to do business in a US state.
That carve-out does not touch Form 5472. Your annual federal information return for the foreign-owned LLC continues exactly as before. For the cost of getting that return done, compare options on our pricing page.
Form 5472 and pro forma 1120, prepared, reviewed, and filed for a flat $299. Or message us first — we answer every question about non-resident LLC owner taxes.