Officially known as Form 5471, Information Return of US Persons with Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations, this form is required along with your expat taxes for US citizens and resident aliens who are considered to be officers, directors or shareholders in certain foreign corporations.

Who is a Category 3 filer?

Category 3 Filer is a U.S. person who acquires or disposes of shares in a foreign corporation and exceeds or falls below a 10% ownership threshold, a U.S. person who acquires stock that would on its own meet the 10% threshold, or a person who becomes a U.S. person while meeting the requisite ownership requirements.

Do I need to file 5471 every year?

When a U.S. person must file an IRS Form 5471 (an information return) under IRC 6046(a), it is filed by attaching it to an individual income tax return, a partnership return, a corporation return, an estate return, or a trust return. For example, a Category 5 Filer must file IRS Form 5471 every year.

What is a Category 1 filer 5471?

See Category 5 Filer, later, for definition. Section 965 specified foreign corporation (SFC). For purposes of Category 1, an SFC (as defined in section 965) is: Any foreign corporation with respect to which one or more domestic corporations is a U.S. shareholder.

Do I need to file form 8621?

U.S. Tax Form 8621 for Shareholders of Passive Foreign Investment Companies. As a U.S. citizen living and working abroad, you may have opened a foreign mutual fund investment account. If you’ve received any income from these funds in the past year, you’re required to report it using U.S. tax Form 8621.

Who must file form 8938?

Unmarried individuals residing in the United States are required to file Form 8938 if the market value of their foreign financial assets is greater than $50,000 on the last day of the year or greater than $75,000 at any time during the year.

What is a Category 3 Filer Form 5471?

US Shareholder of Canadian Corporation – Form 5471 Basically, a category 3 filer has to file Form 5471 when ownership goes above 10%. If you are a greater than 10% shareholder then when you accumulate more shares then you have to file Form 5471. Need to file Form 5471 when you go below the 10%.

What is a Category 4 Filer 5471?

The Category 4 filer is for US persons who had control of a foreign corporation during the accounting period of the foreign corporation. Control typically means more than 50% of total voting power or more than 50% of total classes of shares of stock.

Can I file form 5471 electronically?

At this time, we only support the creation and electronic filing of one Form 5471. If the return requires multiple copies of the form, the only option is to manually complete the additional copies and attach them to the return.

Who is required to file Form 5471 for Category 2?

S. person(s) for which the Category 2 filer is required to file Form 5471 does not directly own an interest in the foreign corporation but is required to furnish the information solely because of constructive stock ownership from a U.S. person and the person from whom the stock ownership is attributed furnishes all of the required information.

Can a US person file a foreign corporation Form 5471?

Michelle is a US person who owns 15% in the Corporation. As a result, David would file a form 5471 as at least a category 2 Filer, even if corporation does not meet the threshold of being a CFC. When a person acquires stock in a foreign corporation, the IRS wants to know about it.

When to file Form 5471, constructive ownership and exceptions?

The U.S. corporation had control of the foreign corporation for more than 30 days in a row and is therefore a Category 4 person required to file Form 5471. 11 In fact, the U.S. corporation is not a Category 4 filer, and need not file Form 5471. The Instructions to Form 5471 say so, but let’s back it up with the actual law: 12

What happens if you dont file Form 5471 on time?

Substantial penalties exist for U.S. citizens and U.S. residents who are liable for filing Form 5471 and who failed to do so. The Form 5471 filing is attached to your individual income tax return and is to be filed by the due date (including extensions) for that return. IRS Form 5471 Penalties – What Happens if You Don’t File Form 5471 On Time?