US LLC annual compliance checklist for foreign owners

The yearly checklist at a glance

Not every item applies to every LLC. Use the second column to find yours, then read the sections below for the rules behind each one.

State: annual report, yearly tax and registered agent

Your formation state decides what you file each year and when. Here's what the states popular with founders outside the US require from a small LLC:

Deadlines are enforced. Wyoming administratively dissolves an LLC whose report is more than 60 days late, and Delaware adds a $200 penalty plus 1.5% interest a month to unpaid LLC tax. Every state is covered in LLC annual fees by state, and our Starter plan files the annual report for you.

Keep your registered agent active

Your LLC needs a registered agent with a physical address in its state for as long as it exists. If the service lapses, you can miss legal papers, and states act on it: Wyoming treats an LLC without a registered agent as defunct 60 days after notice, and reinstating it costs a $250 penalty on top of the reinstatement fee. See what a registered agent does.

IRS: Form 5472, Form 1065 and your own return

Single-member LLC: Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120

A single-member LLC wholly owned by a foreign person files Form 5472 attached to a pro forma Form 1120 for each year it has reportable transactions with you or other related parties. Money you put in, money you take out and payments tied to forming the LLC all count, so expect to file in most years. It's due April 15, can be extended 6 months with Form 7004 and must be faxed or mailed. Not filing costs $25,000.

Our Pro plan includes both forms, prepared by our US tax partner. For line-by-line help, read the Form 5472 guide.

Multi-member LLC: Form 1065

An LLC with two or more members files Form 1065 and gives each member a Schedule K-1 by March 15, unless it had no income and no deductible expenses. Filing late costs $255 per member per month, up to 12 months. If the LLC has income connected with a US business, it also pays withholding tax on foreign members' shares and files Forms 8804 and 8805. Single-member vs multi-member LLCs covers the details.

Your own US return

The LLC's filings don't replace yours. If you have income effectively connected with a US business, you file Form 1040-NR: by June 15 if you had no US wages subject to withholding, or by April 15 if you have an office or place of business in the US. If you weren't engaged in a US business and had no US income, you generally have no US return to file. US taxes for non-resident LLC owners explains the test.

Forms 1099-NEC for US contractors

If the LLC paid a US contractor $2,000 or more for services during the year, it files Form 1099-NEC with the IRS and gives the contractor a copy by January 31 of the next year. The threshold was $600 for payments made through 2025.

BOI and FBAR: what still applies

BOI reports

LLCs formed in the US no longer file beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports with FinCEN under the final rule effective August 14, 2026; see BOI reporting in 2026 for who still reports.

FBAR for the LLC's accounts outside the US

An FBAR (FinCEN Form 114, the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) is required from any US person with a financial interest in, or signature authority over, financial accounts outside the US worth more than $10,000 in total at any time during the year. A US LLC is a US person for this purpose, and FinCEN's instructions say that applies even to an LLC that is disregarded for income tax.

So if your LLC holds an account outside the US, such as a bank account in India or the UK, check whether its accounts ever went over $10,000 combined. File online through FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System by April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15. It's separate from the tax return. FinCEN's instructions set civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, and far more for willful failures.

Your personal accounts are a different question. A nonresident alien isn't a US person for FBAR purposes, so you don't file one for your own accounts at home.

State taxes if you operate in a state

Forming in Wyoming or Delaware doesn't stop other states from taxing you. If your LLC has employees, an office or inventory in a state, or makes enough sales there, that state may require you to register as a foreign LLC, collect sales tax or run payroll.

Sales tax surprises online sellers most often. Since the Supreme Court's 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, states can require out-of-state sellers to collect sales tax without any physical presence once sales pass a threshold. South Dakota's is more than $100,000 of gross sales into the state in the current or previous year.

Doing business in a state without registering there is expensive. Wyoming, for example, charges an out-of-state company that does business there without authority a $5,000 penalty, plus the fees and taxes it should have paid and 18% interest. If you have staff, customers or stock in the US, ask a US CPA which states you need to register in.

Bookkeeping, records and good standing

Keep books all year, not only at tax time. A foreign-owned LLC must keep permanent books and records that support its return, including every transaction with you.

• A business bank account used only for the LLC, so company and personal money never mix.
• Monthly bookkeeping: income, expenses and every transfer between you and the LLC.
• Company documents: articles of organization, operating agreement, EIN letter and state filings.
• Copies of every return and report, with proof of filing and payment.

Stay in good standing

Good standing means the state's records show your LLC is current on its reports, taxes and registered agent. Banks and partners may ask for a certificate of good standing. In Delaware, an LLC that hasn't paid its tax loses good standing, can't file most documents and can't get that certificate until it pays.

Owners in India: RBI's Annual Performance Report

Indian residents who hold a US LLC as an overseas direct investment file an Annual Performance Report through their bank by December 31 each year (by December 31 of the following year when the LLC's accounting year ends on December 31); see forming a US LLC from India.

Month-by-month compliance calendar

For an LLC that uses the calendar year. A federal deadline that falls on a weekend or legal holiday moves to the next business day.

Frequently asked questions