Does a foreign-owned LLC file Form 5472 with no income?
Income is not the test. The IRS requires Form 5472 when the LLC had a reportable transaction with its owner or another related party, and a capital contribution counts as one, so most funded LLCs file. An LLC with no reportable transactions at all falls under Exception 1 and does not. A missed filing carries a 25,000 dollar penalty.
What actually triggers the filing
The instructions say a reporting corporation must file if it had a reportable transaction with a foreign or domestic related party. For a foreign-owned disregarded entity that includes money moving between you and the company, so funding the account is usually enough.
The exception, and why it rarely applies
Exception 1 removes the requirement when there were no reportable transactions of the types in Parts IV, V and VI. A company that took in no capital and paid out nothing can qualify. Most do not, which is why the safe assumption is that you file.
How it is filed
With a pro forma Form 1120 attached. A foreign-owned disregarded entity cannot file this electronically. The IRS takes it by fax on 855-887-7737 or by mail to the Ogden, Utah address in the instructions, not the usual Form 1120 address.
Sources
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