Form 5471 - Who must file?

Filing IRS Form 5471 for owners of Controlled Foreign Corporations can be a very complicated process. And costly as the IRS penalty can run to 10k per form per year. Here is a brief description from the IRS on who needs to file.

Purpose of Form

Form 5471 is used by certain U.S. citizens and residents who are officers, directors, or shareholders in certain foreign corporations. The form and schedules are used to satisfy the reporting requirements of sections 6038 and 6046, and the related regulations.

Who Must File

Generally, all U.S. persons described in Categories of Filers below must complete the schedules, statements, and/or other information requested in the chart, Filing Requirements for Categories of Filers, on page 2. Read the information for each category carefully to determine which schedules, statements, and/or information apply.

Categories of Filers

Category 1 Filer

This filing requirement has been repealed by section 413(c)(26) of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, which repealed section 6035.

Category 2 Filer

This includes a U.S. citizen or resident who is an officer or director of a foreign corporation in which a U.S. person (defined below) has acquired (in one or more transactions):

1. Stock which meets the 10% stock ownership requirement (described below) with respect to the foreign corporation or
2. An additional 10% or more (in value or voting power) of the outstanding stock of the foreign corporation.

A U.S. person has acquired stock in a foreign corporation when that person has an unqualified right to receive the stock, even though the stock is not actually issued. See Regulations section 1.6046-1(f)(1) for more details.

Stock ownership requirement.   For purposes of Category 2 and Category 3, the stock ownership threshold is met if a U.S. person owns:

1. 10% or more of the total value of the foreign corporation’s stock or
2. 10% or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock with voting rights.

U.S. person.   For purposes of Category 2 and Category 3, a U.S. person is:

1. A citizen or resident of the United States,
2. A domestic partnership,
3. A domestic corporation, and
4. An estate or trust that is not a foreign estate or trust defined in section 7701(a)(31).

See Regulations section 1.6046-1(f)(3) for exceptions.

Category 3 Filer

This category includes:

• A U.S. person (defined above) who acquires stock in a foreign corporation which, when added to any stock owned on the date of acquisition, meets the 10% stock ownership requirement (described above) with respect to the foreign corporation;
• A U.S. person who acquires stock which, without regard to stock already owned on the date of acquisition, meets the 10% stock ownership requirement with respect to the foreign corporation;
• A person who is treated as a U.S. shareholder under section 953(c) with respect to the foreign corporation;
• A person who becomes a U.S. person while meeting the 10% stock ownership requirement with respect to the foreign corporation; or
• A U.S. person who disposes of sufficient stock in the foreign corporation to reduce his or her interest to less than the stock ownership requirement.

For more information, see section 6046 and Regulations section 1.6046-1.

Category 4 Filer

This includes a U.S. person who had control (defined below) of a foreign corporation for an uninterrupted period of at least 30 days during the annual accounting period of the foreign corporation.

U.S. person.   For purposes of
Category 4, a U.S. person is:

1. A citizen or resident of the United States;
2. A nonresident alien for whom an election is in effect under section 6013(g) to be treated as a resident of the United States;
3. An individual for whom an election is in effect under section 6013(h), relating to nonresident aliens who become residents of the United States during the tax year and are married at the close of the tax year to a citizen or resident of the United States;
4. A domestic partnership;
5. A domestic corporation; and
6. An estate or trust that is not a foreign estate or trust defined in section 7701(a)(31).

See Regulations section 1.6038-2(d) for exceptions.

Control.   A U.S. person has control of a foreign corporation if, at any time during that person’s tax year, it owns stock possessing:

1. More than 50% of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock of the foreign corporation entitled to vote or
2. More than 50% of the total value of shares of all classes of stock of the foreign corporation.

A person in control of a corporation that, in turn, owns more than 50% of the combined voting power, or the value, of all classes of stock of another corporation is also treated as being in control of such other corporation.

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