Form 5471

What Is Form 5471?

The 5471 form is also known as the Information Return of US Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations. It was created and released by the Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service for taxpayers who work in foreign corporations. The information that is contained in the document has to be furnished for the foreign annual accounting period for corporations. You have to make sure you don’t miss the deadline on the form.

Not every taxpayer needs to complete IRS form 5471. Usually, this document is used by American residents and citizens who work as shareholders, directors, and officers in foreign corporations. They have to provide information on their income, following the regulations in sections 6046 and 6038.

This form is not the easiest one, but it still must be provided in specific cases. You can also ask professionals to prepare the document. There you need to provide information on the US shareholder and calculate the income and taxes. The document is several pages long.

What Do I Need the Form 5471 For?

• The tax form 5471 can be used by a resident of the US who lives abroad and has a business that involves a foreign country. However, until you have 10 percent of the foreign corporation or even more, you don’t have to file the return;
• The document is spread among the directors, officers, and shareholders on foreign corporations who are citizens of the US;
• Foreign companies that work with US shareholders have to learn what is form 5471 used for. The shareholders from the US must have at least 50 percent of the voting power in the corporation so the form could be filed from the company.

How to Fill Out Form 5471?

You can find form 5471 PDF on IRS official website which also contains instructions for every document they’ve created. However, if you want to fill it out online, you need a third-party tool to do it, since the IRS does not offer such a service. This is why you may choose the PDFLiner, the online editor that already has the form, the instructions, and all the editing tools to use for free.

The completed document can be downloaded on your device and saved for the future. You can also print it and send it by regular mail to the IRS if you need. However, the quickest way is to send the file to the IRS online or by email. It does not take much time. To complete the document, you have to follow this form 5471 instruction:

1. Write down the exact tax year you want to provide information for;
2. Include the data on the person who is filing the return with the name, address, and ZIP. Don’t forget the identifying number. You have to put the ticks in the appropriate boxes near the matching statements for your specific case. If you file on behalf of someone, mention their addresses, names, and ID numbers;
3. Provide information on the foreign corporation you work with, including the name, address, representative in the US, taxable income, and paid tax in the US;
4. Fill Schedule A with the stock of the foreign corporation information, Schedule B with the information on shareholders of the foreign corporation, Schedule C with the income statement, and Schedule F with the balance sheet. If there is other information, include it in Schedule G. Summaries the shareholder’s income in Schedule I.

Organizations That Work With Form 5471

• Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service.