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I'm a US person and I own a company abroad. What do I file?
e.g. GmbH, Sàrl/Sagl, Ltd, SARL, SAS, SRL, BV, ApS, Oy, AB (private)
This decides whether the company can be a controlled foreign corporation — the answer that changes the cost most.
Why this is a screen and not an answer
Three facts decide almost everything about a foreign company's U.S. reporting, and none of them can be collected from a form:
- How the entity is classified. Whether the U.S. sees a corporation, a partnership or an extension of you decides which form applies at all — and some entity types cannot be elected out of their default.
- What is attributed to you. Shares held by a spouse, parents, children or a connected entity can be treated as yours. People cross the 10% and 50% lines without a single share changing hands.
- What the company earns and holds. Whether it is a controlled foreign corporation, and what its income produces under subpart F and GILTI, is arithmetic over real financial statements.
So each item above is labelled likely, possible or review required. Review required is not a softer “possible” — it means the deciding fact is one that has to come from a person reading your documents.
Questions
- I own a small GmbH. Do I really have to file something in the US?
- Very possibly, and the size of the company is not what decides it. Form 5471 is an information return: it is due because you own an interest in a foreign corporation, not because the company made money, and it is filed with your Form 1040. The penalty for missing it starts at $10,000 per form, per tax year under IRC §6038(b), and it applies to a dormant company as readily as to a profitable one. Whether you personally fall into a filing category depends on how much you own, how the rest is owned, and what is attributed to you from family members and related entities.
- My local accountant never mentioned any of this.
- They generally have no reason to. A German Steuerberater, a Swiss fiduciary or a UK accountant is engaged to handle local filings and does that correctly. US information reporting for the US-person owner sits outside that engagement entirely, and it is one of the most common ways an otherwise well-run company produces a US compliance problem years later.
- What is a controlled foreign corporation, and why does the tool keep asking about other owners?
- Because it is the answer that changes the cost most. When US shareholders together hold more than half of a foreign corporation, it can become a controlled foreign corporation — and its profits can become taxable to you in the US in the year they are earned, whether or not any money reaches you. Whether that happens depends on the total US ownership, not just yours, which is why one owner's answer is not enough.
- Can this tool tell me which Form 5471 category I am in?
- No, and any tool that claims to from nine dropdowns is guessing. The categories turn on constructive ownership, attribution from family members and related entities, and what happened during the year — and the category determines which schedules are required. The screen names whether Form 5471 is in play; a person works out where you sit.
- What if I have owned the company for years and never filed?
- That is a known situation with established routes rather than an emergency. What matters is which years are open, whether the failure was non-wilful, and what the company's numbers actually were. It is better raised deliberately than discovered later, and the penalties for coming forward are generally very different from the penalties for being found.
- I am not a US person but I own a US LLC. Is this the right tool?
- No — that is the opposite direction and a separate regime. A foreign-owned single-member US LLC has its own annual filing obligation that applies whether or not the company earned anything. This checker screens US persons who own companies abroad.
Related: Form 5471 explained, self-employment tax abroad, and the FBAR and Form 8938 thresholds.
Before you rely on this result
What would settle it, and what covers it
Documents or facts needed
- • The entity's legal form and country
- • Your ownership percentage and any other US owners
- • Whether the entity earns passive or active income
Where this leads
Free Portfolio Scan · $0 — Form 5471 and Form 8858 are outside the supported scope; the diagnostic routes the case to a professional.
Complex facts are scoped on a free call before any price is quoted; booking does not create an engagement.
How to read a status
- Likely:
- The facts entered meet the published test; confirm the inputs before acting.
- Possible:
- Some facts point this way and others are missing; more information decides it.
- Needs review:
- These inputs leave it open; a person should look before filing.
- Not currently indicated:
- Nothing entered triggers it this year; a changed fact can change the answer.
- Outside supported scope:
- This item is routed to a professional for preparation.
Scope. A screen for filing triggers; foreign-corporation reporting is prepared by a professional, not by Atamatax. This is a computation on the answers you gave, not individualized tax advice.
Tool: /tools/foreign-company-us-tax
What changes the result
This answer changes if…
Whether a U.S. return is required for a year
- …your gross income for the year was at or above the filing threshold for your status and age — the threshold is not the standard deduction, and married-filing-separately is $5. Check it
- …you had $400 or more of net self-employment income — self-employment is its own trigger, below any income threshold.
- …you are married to a non-U.S. person — married-filing-separately is the default and its threshold is $5; an election to file jointly changes everything about the year.
- …you held a green card at any point in the year — a green-card holder is a U.S. person for the whole year unless the card was formally surrendered.
Each line names a fact that moves the result; what it moves to depends on the rest of your facts. Nothing here is a determination.
How Atamatax calculations are produced — the tests applied, statutory sources and review cadence — is documented in the methodology, and how the engine is validated in accuracy & review. Calculation fixes are recorded in the changelog.
Authorities cited
- Form 5471 — Form 5471 — Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations
- Form 8865 — Form 8865 — Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships
- Form 8858 — Form 8858 — Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Foreign Disregarded Entities and Foreign Branches
- IRC §6038 — IRC §6038 — information reporting with respect to certain foreign corporations and partnerships
Primary sources (Cornell Legal Information Institute for the US Code and CFR; IRS.gov for forms, procedures, and treaty documents). This page is general information, not individualized tax or legal advice.
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