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LLC with no income

Zero income usually still means one form to file

A foreign-owned US LLC that earned nothing can still owe Form 5472 this year. Here's how to tell.

Run the two minute check

The short answer

Usually yes, and income has nothing to do with it

If the LLC has one owner who isn't a US person, the IRS treats it as a corporation for one purpose: reporting money that moves between the LLC and that owner. Each year where that happened, the LLC files a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 attached.

There's no tax on it when there's no US income. It's a report. The catch is the penalty for not filing it, which starts at $25,000 per year, whether or not the LLC ever made a sale.

The full filing, what it costs and what we need is on the Form 5472 page.

What counts as activity

Any one of these in the year means the form is due

These are called reportable transactions. None of them needs a sale or a US bank account.

  • You paid its formation costs

    Paying the state filing fee or the formation service from your own money is money moving between you and the LLC.

  • You paid its registered agent or annual report

    Same thing in the years after formation. Small amounts still count.

  • You put money in

    Any transfer from you to the LLC, even to open or top up an account.

  • You took money out

    Any payment from the LLC to you, or on your behalf.

No bank account

An LLC with no bank account can still owe the form

A common version: the LLC was set up, the bank application stalled or never happened, and nothing was sold. But someone paid the formation fee, and usually the registered agent too. If that was you, from your own card, that payment is a transaction between you and the LLC.

A typical first year

  • ✓LLC formed in Wyoming through a formation service
  • ✓Owner paid the fees with a personal card
  • ✓No bank account and no sales

Form 5472 and a pro forma 1120 are still due for that year.

Price

The same flat fee as any other year

A quiet year is still a full filing. You get the fee in writing before any work starts.

Form 5472 + pro forma 1120

From $799

one tax year, prepared, signed and filed

Turnaround

10 days

from the day we have everything we need

This page is general information about federal filing rules, not advice on your LLC. Whether a form is due depends on what actually happened in your year, which is what the call is for. See our disclosures.

FAQs

What owners of quiet LLCs ask

Because the form reports money moving between the LLC and its foreign owner. Profit isn't part of the test. A foreign-owned single-member LLC is treated as a corporation for this one purpose, so it files a pro forma 1120 with Form 5472 attached, even when there's no tax to pay.

The filing can still be due. If you paid the formation fee or the registered agent from your own card, that payment counts. The bank account isn't what triggers it.

Yes, in a year where nothing at all moved between you and the LLC, and no one paid any of its costs. That's rarer than most owners think, and the formation year almost never qualifies. We check your year before quoting.

Not for this federal filing. The state only changes your state annual report and fees, which are separate from this.

April 15 for a calendar-year LLC. Filing Form 7004 by then extends it six months, to October 15.

That’s a separate job, with its own returns and a reasonable cause statement. See late Form 5472 filings.

No. Qeihan is a tax return preparer. He prepares and signs federal returns like this one. He doesn't represent clients before the IRS.

Find out if your LLC owes a form before October 15

30 minutes with Qeihan. You leave knowing what's due and the flat fee to file it.

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