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For founders abroad with a US LLC or US income

US tax forms for non-residents: which one, when, and which you can ignore

Most founders abroad face one return a year and a couple of forms they sign for clients. The confusion comes from the dozen other IRS forms that look like they apply and don't. This page sorts them by your situation and puts a 2027 date on each.

You're filing from

Pick your country to see whether it has a US income tax treaty, which changes what you write on a W-8.

Which US tax forms does a non-resident LLC owner file?

If you live abroad and own a single-member US LLC, the LLC files a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached by 15 April every year, as soon as any money moved between you and it. You file Form 1040-NR yourself only when you have a US trade or business. When a US client or platform asks for a tax form, you sign a W-8BEN, never a W-9.

Every year

1120 pro forma plus 5472, faxed or posted to the IRS. Extension on 7004.

How to fill both in

Only if it applies

1040-NR with an ITIN from W-7, when you work in the US, employ people there or have staff or an office there.

When the ITIN question comes up

When someone asks

W-8BEN for you as a person, W-8BEN-E if a foreign company owns the LLC. Kept by the payer, never sent to the IRS.

Fill in a W-8BEN

Form finder: your forms and deadlines in five answers

Your list of forms rebuilds with every answer. Dates are for tax year 2026, the calendar year that ends on 31 December 2026, so the filings fall in 2027.

1What do you have in the US?
2Who owns it?
3Is any of the work done in the US?
4Your EIN
5Money in and out

Your forms for tax year 2026

    you fileyou sign for a payeryou may receivenumbers and letters

    Every form a founder abroad meets, in four drawers

    Sorted by what the form does for you rather than by number. Each row says who it is for, when it is due and where it goes, with the IRS source and our longer page where we have one.

    Rule of thumb: forms that start with W tell a payer who you are and stay with the payer. Forms with a plain number are returns that go to the IRS.

    Numbers and letters what you need before anything else

    SS-4EIN application

    Gets your LLC its Employer Identification Number

    Without an SSN you can't use the online application, so you apply by fax, post or the international phone line. The responsible party is you, and line 7b takes your ITIN or "Foreign".

    When

    Right after the state approves the LLC. By fax the EIN comes back in about four business days.

    CP 575 / 147CEIN proof

    The IRS letters banks ask for

    CP 575 is the notice issued with a new EIN. It can't be reissued, so if it's lost you call the IRS and ask for Letter 147C, "EIN Previously Assigned".

    When

    Whenever a bank or payment provider wants proof that the name and EIN match.

    W-7ITIN application

    A personal US tax number for people who can't get an SSN

    Not for the LLC and not for Form 5472. It goes in with your first 1040-NR, or alone under one of five exceptions such as a treaty claim on passive income.

    When

    With the return it's needed for. Allow 7 weeks, or 9 to 11 if you apply from abroad or between 15 January and 30 April.

    Forms you sign for payers never posted to the IRS

    W-8BENforeign individual

    You, as the person behind a one-owner LLC or as a freelancer

    The IRS looks through a single-member LLC to its owner, so the owner signs, in their own name. You can add the LLC's name and account on line 7. A treaty country lets you claim a lower rate in Part II.

    When

    Before the first payment. It stays valid until 31 December of the third year after you sign, unless your details change.

    W-8BEN-Eforeign entity

    When the owner of the LLC is itself a non-US company

    Signed by an officer of that foreign company. It asks for chapter 3 and chapter 4 status; most trading companies tick active NFFE.

    When

    Before payment, same three-year validity rule as the W-8BEN.

    W-9US person

    Only for an LLC that counts as a US person

    That means two or more owners (a US partnership) or a corporate election. The W-9 instructions say a foreign owner of a disregarded entity gives a W-8 instead, even when the LLC has an EIN.

    When

    When a US payer asks. Signing one by mistake is the usual reason a founder abroad gets a 1099.

    Returns you file with an IRS deadline

    5472 + 1120pro forma

    The yearly information return of a foreign-owned single-member LLC

    On the 1120 you fill in only the name, address, EIN (item B) and item E, and write "Foreign-owned U.S. DE" across the top. Form 5472 reports what moved between you and the LLC, its formation costs included.

    When

    15 April 2027 for 2026. No e-filing: fax to 855-887-7737 or post to the IRS in Ogden, Utah.

    7004extension

    Six more months for the 1120 and Form 5472

    Filed the same way as the return, with "Foreign-owned U.S. DE" written across the top. It moves the deadline to 15 October; it doesn't waive anything.

    When

    By 15 April 2027.

    1040-NRpersonal return

    Your own return, when US tax reaches you

    Due if you're engaged in a US trade or business, even with no income, or if withholding didn't cover the tax on US income. Profit from work done entirely abroad is foreign source and doesn't put you here by itself.

    When

    15 June 2027 without US wages, 15 April with them (1040-NR instructions).

    4868extension

    Six more months for the 1040-NR

    June filers tick the box on line 9. It extends the filing date only: tax you owe still accrues interest from the original date.

    When

    By the return's own due date.

    1120real return

    A US corporation, or an LLC that elected to be one

    Federal tax at 21% of taxable profit, whoever owns it. With 25% or more foreign ownership a Form 5472 rides along for each related party with reportable transactions.

    When

    15 April 2027 for a calendar year, 15 October with Form 7004.

    8832election

    Choosing corporate tax treatment for an LLC

    Optional. An election can reach back no more than 75 days before you file it. It swaps the pro forma 1120 for a full one with tax on it.

    When

    Any time, effective up to 75 days earlier or 12 months later.

    1065partnership

    An LLC with two or more owners

    Taxed as a partnership by default: a return with a Schedule K-1 for each partner. When the business has US effectively connected income, it also withholds on the foreign partners' share (Forms 8804 and 8805).

    When

    Monday 15 March 2027 for 2026.

    Forms that may arrive sent to you by payers

    1042-Sto foreign persons

    The foreign person's version of a 1099

    Reports US-source income paid to you and any US tax withheld, such as dividends or royalties. Keep it: it's your proof of tax paid if you file a 1040-NR.

    When

    Payers send it by 15 March 2027 (1042-S instructions).

    1099-NEC / MISCto US persons

    Contractor and other payments, US$2,000 and up

    For tax years after 2025 the reporting floor rose from US$600 to US$2,000. You get one only if a payer treats you as a US person; you send one if your US-person LLC pays a US contractor.

    When

    To the payee and the IRS by 31 January, so Monday 1 February 2027.

    1099-Kfrom platforms

    Card and marketplace payouts

    Platforms report a US payee with more than US$20,000 and more than 200 transactions in the year. With a W-8 on file, a foreign owner shouldn't be in that count.

    When

    To the payee by 31 January.

    The 2027 US tax calendar for non-residents

    Every federal date for tax year 2026, from the IRS instructions for each form. When the 15th lands on a weekend the date moves to the next business day; none of these do, except 31 January.

    1. 1 FebMonday

      1099-NEC, 1099-MISC, 1099-K out to payees

      Only if your LLC is a US person that paid a US contractor US$2,000 or more, or if a 1099 is coming to you by mistake.

    2. 15 MarMonday

      Form 1065 for multi-member LLCs; 1042-S reaches you

      Partnership return and K-1s, or Form 7004 for six more months. Payers send any 1042-S by this day.

    3. 15 AprThursday

      Pro forma 1120 with Form 5472, or Form 7004

      The big one for one-owner LLCs. Also Form 1120 for corporations, and the 1040-NR if you had US wages with tax withheld.

    4. 15 JunTuesday

      Form 1040-NR without US wages, or Form 4868

      For owners engaged in a US trade or business. Attach Form W-7 here if you don't yet have an ITIN.

    5. 15 OctFriday

      Extended 1120 and Form 5472

      Last day if you filed Form 7004 in April. Also the extended date for a 1040-NR that was due in April.

    6. 15 DecWednesday

      Extended 1040-NR from June

      Six months after 15 June, if you filed Form 4868 in time.

    Every three years

    A W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E signed in 2026 runs out on 31 December 2029. Payers often ask for a new one in the autumn before.

    After three idle years

    An ITIN not used on a federal return for three years in a row expires on 31 December of the third year.

    The state's own date

    Annual reports and state taxes have their own calendar. See the state pages below.

    US tax penalties for non-residents, in four numbers

    The first one is why this page exists. The others only bite when there is tax to pay.

    US$25,000

    Form 5472 missing or incomplete

    Per year, per related party, then US$25,000 per 30 days after 90 days from an IRS notice. No cap (instructions).

    5%

    Late 1040-NR or 1120

    Of unpaid tax for each month or part of a month late, up to 25% (IRS).

    US$525

    Minimum when over 60 days late

    For returns due after 2025, or 100% of the tax due if that's less. Nothing due, nothing charged.

    0.5%

    Tax paid late

    Of unpaid tax each month, also capped at 25%, plus interest. An extension of time to file is not one to pay.

    A pro forma 1120 carries no tax, so the 5% rule can't touch it. The exposure there is the Form 5472 penalty alone, which is why a zero-income LLC still files on time. The IRS can lift penalties for reasonable cause, which you explain in writing; don't plan around it.

    Three founders, three sets of forms

    Typical setups, with the forms each one actually files for tax year 2026.

    Single-member LLC, all work abroad

    A designer in Lisbon with a Wyoming LLC

    Say you invoice US$84,000 in 2026 to clients in the US and Germany, put US$1,500 into the LLC to start it and take out US$60,000. You never work from the US.

    1. W-8BENto each US client that asks, signed by you
    2. 1120 + 547215 Apr 2027, reporting the US$1,500 in and US$60,000 out
    3. 1040-NRnot needed: no US trade or business

    US federal tax: none. How Portugal taxes the profit is a question for Portugal's rules, not the IRS.

    Single-member LLC, months in the US

    A developer who spends spring in Austin

    Say the same LLC, but you work on client projects from Texas for ten weeks. The profit from those weeks is US-source and effectively connected.

    1. 1120 + 547215 Apr 2027, as before
    2. W-7with the first 1040-NR, for your ITIN
    3. 1040-NR15 Jun 2027 on the US share of the profit

    Count the days too: the substantial presence test decides whether that return is a 1040-NR or a full 1040.

    Two owners, both abroad

    Two partners in Lagos and Dubai, Delaware LLC

    Say two founders own 50% each and run everything from home. The LLC is a partnership for US tax, so it is a US person with its own return.

    1. W-9given by the LLC to US clients
    2. 106515 Mar 2027, with a K-1 for each partner
    3. 1040-NRonly for a partner with US effectively connected income

    No Form 5472: that's for single-owner LLCs and corporations.

    The state side: separate from the IRS

    Every form above is federal. Your LLC's state has its own report and, in a few states, its own tax. Each page below covers one state's taxes for owners abroad.

    WyomingUS$60 license tax, no income tax DelawareUS$400 annual LLC tax New MexicoGross receipts tax and nexus NevadaNo income tax, two thresholds Florida0% for a disregarded LLC

    Questions founders abroad ask about US tax forms

    Does a non-resident with a US LLC have to file a US tax return?

    The LLC files one information return every year: a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached, even with no income, whenever there was any transaction with the owner. You personally file Form 1040-NR only if you are engaged in a US trade or business, such as staff, an office or work done while you are in the US, or if US tax withheld from your US income did not cover what you owe.

    Should my single-member LLC give a client a W-9 or a W-8BEN?

    A W-8. The IRS treats a single-member LLC as its owner for this purpose, and the W-9 instructions say a foreign owner of a disregarded entity must give an appropriate Form W-8 instead, even if the LLC has its own EIN. A person signs a W-8BEN; a foreign company that owns the LLC signs a W-8BEN-E. The LLC gives a W-9 only if it has two or more owners or has elected to be taxed as a corporation.

    Will I get a 1099 from my US clients or from Stripe?

    Forms 1099 are for payments to US persons. If a client or platform holds your W-8, you should not get one. Payments of US-source income to a foreign person are reported on Form 1042-S instead, by 15 March. If a 1099-NEC or 1099-K arrives, the payer probably has a W-9 on file for you; replace it with the right W-8.

    Do I need an ITIN to file Form 5472?

    No. The pro forma 1120 and Form 5472 use the LLC's EIN. An ITIN is for your personal filings: you apply with Form W-7 when you file a 1040-NR or claim a treaty benefit that needs one.

    What happens if I miss the Form 5472 deadline?

    The IRS can charge US$25,000 for each tax year and each related party, and another US$25,000 for each 30 days the form is still missing more than 90 days after an IRS notice. There is no ceiling. If you need time, file Form 7004 by 15 April to move the deadline to 15 October.

    When is the US tax deadline for non-residents in 2027?

    For tax year 2026: the pro forma 1120 with Form 5472 is due Thursday 15 April 2027 (15 October with Form 7004). Form 1040-NR is due 15 June 2027 if you had no US wages with tax withheld, or 15 April 2027 if you did. A multi-member LLC files Form 1065 by Monday 15 March 2027.

    This page explains which forms exist and when they fall due. It isn't tax advice for your situation; a US tax preparer can confirm what your year needs. Also useful: tax ID numbers by country, double tax treaties and our free tools.

    All US form pages

    Your US LLC, with the April filing on our list instead of yours.

    Form 5472 preparation is US$179 a year on any US LLC we form. A Wyoming LLC is US$181.40 for year one, every state fee included, and we apply for the EIN without an SSN.

    See the Wyoming LLC Compare US states