Form 8858

What Is 8858 Form?

Also known as Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Foreign Disregarded Entities (FDEs) and Foreign Branches (FBs), it's a tax document for individuals in the US who have overseas businesses or branches. If you want to properly report financial information and activities within your overseas businesses to the IRS, you should fill out and file this doc with a laser-like focus on accuracy. By the way, in today's post, we will provide instructions for Form 8858, so keep on reading.

Form 8858 vs Form 5471

Form 5471 and 8858 Tax Form serve different purposes for reporting overseas business activities:

• 8858. It is used by US individuals or entities owning foreign disregarded entities or foreign branches, focusing on specific overseas business types.
• 5471. It is primarily utilized for reporting ownership in certain overseas corporations, especially applicable to individuals or entities holding significant shares or control in foreign companies.

With all that said, while both documents relate to overseas business, Form 8858 targets specific foreign entity structures, whereas 5471 focuses on ownership in foreign corporations.

How to Fill Out Form 8858

First and foremost, always remember that you can find the Form 8858 PDF template in our huge (and 100% free) catalog of pre-designed document templates. Once you find the template, feel free to follow these 9 important steps to fill it out fast and easily:

1. Indicate your name, contact info, and tax identification details.
2. Provide data on foreign disregarded entities or foreign branches.
3. Record financial information about the overseas entities.
4. Report ownership or control of the overseas entities.
5. Fill only the sections relevant to your situation:
6. Reread everything you've entered to make 100% sure all information is accurate.
7. Place your e-signature on the document with our specialized feature — and add the date, too.
8. Include Form 8858 with your tax return.
9. Use PDFLiner. It will simplify the entire process and save your precious time. 

Cutting to the chase, if you want to cope with the doc’s completion fast and easily, we recommend that you do it with PDFLiner at your disposal. Our digital file management system is a must-use if you want to handle your administrative affairs like a pro.

Penalties for Improper Filing of IRS Form 8858

If you fail to file the document correctly, it can lead to penalties. These penalties will grow if you keep messing up or provide wrong or misleading information. With that said, it's very important to focus on accuracy and follow Form 8858 filing requirements provided by the IRS as you handle the document. That way, you will avoid those penalties and do what the IRS wants when reporting your overseas business activities. Don’t forget to use PDFLiner to speed up the process without compromising the accuracy or quality of the result.