Business Tax Returns
Form 5472, Form 5471, Form 8833, Form W-8BEN-E
US federal returns for companies, partnerships and LLCs with UK owners, UK parents or UK operations, prepared alongside the UK accounts.
What does Business Tax Returns involve?
A US entity with British owners, or a UK company doing business in the US, files federal returns that ask detailed questions about its foreign connections. Which return applies depends on how the entity is classified for US purposes, and that may not match its legal name. We prepare the federal and state filings with the related-party figures agreed to the books on the other side.
Forms and filings involved
- Form 5472
Reporting for US corporations with a significant foreign owner, and for single-member US LLCs owned by someone outside the US.
- Form 5471
The information return a US citizen or green card holder files for a UK limited company they own, control or have acquired an interest in.
- Form 8833
The disclosure required when a US return relies on the US-UK treaty to override or modify the ordinary US tax rules.
- Form W-8BEN-E
The certificate a non-US entity gives a US payer to confirm its foreign status, FATCA classification and any treaty claim.
- State Returns
Why a move to the UK does not always end a US state tax obligation, and how states decide who remains a resident.
Which federal return your business files
A US corporation files Form 1120 each year and pays federal tax at the corporate level.
A partnership, including a multi-member LLC that has not elected otherwise, files Form 1065 and gives each partner a share of the income to report. An S corporation election is not open to a company with a non-resident alien shareholder, so British founders living in the UK generally hold a C corporation or an LLC instead. The classification chosen at formation shapes every later filing.
Foreign ownership adds reporting. A corporation with a foreign shareholder holding a quarter or more attaches Form 5472 for each foreign related party it dealt with. A single-member LLC owned by a UK resident files the same form with a pro forma Form 1120, even in a year with no income, where it had reportable transactions with its owner. The form carries a penalty of $25,000 for each year it is missing or incomplete. Partnerships with UK partners must also withhold on effectively connected income allocated to them.
A UK company trading in the US without a subsidiary is taxed on income effectively connected with that trade and files Form 1120-F. Under the treaty, business profits are generally taxable in the US only if they are attributable to a permanent establishment there, and a claim that none exists is generally disclosed on Form 8833. Deductions can be lost if Form 1120-F is filed late, which is why a protective return is sometimes filed for a year in which the company expects to owe nothing.
Federal entity returns we prepare
- 01
- Form 1120 for US corporations, including subsidiaries of UK groups
- 02
- Form 1065 and partner schedules for LLCs and partnerships with UK members
- 03
- Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 for UK-owned single-member LLCs
- 04
- Form 1120-F for UK companies with US trading income or treaty positions
- 05
- State income and franchise tax returns where the business has nexus
Who this is for
UK groups with a US subsidiary or a US branch
- British founders running a Delaware C corporation from the UK
- US partnerships and LLCs with one or more UK-resident members
- UK companies selling services to US customers through staff on the ground
Why US UK Tax Returns
Each return is prepared with the other country's return open beside it, so a credit, election or disclosure on one is supported by the other.
One File
US and UK returns prepared in the same engagement and reconciled line by line.
Primary Sources
Every position traced to the Code, the treaty, IRS instructions or HMRC guidance.
Scope First
Returns, forms, years and fee agreed in writing before work begins.
The Same People
The team that files this year carries the elections and credits into the next.
Questions we are asked
My single-member LLC made no money this year. Does it still have to file anything?
If you are not a US person, generally yes. A US LLC wholly owned by a foreign person is treated as a corporation for Form 5472 purposes, so it files that form with a pro forma Form 1120 whenever it has reportable transactions with its owner, and forming or funding the LLC can count. The penalty for a missing form is $25,000. Whether a state return is also due depends on where the LLC is registered and operates.
Can my UK company sell to American customers without filing a US return?
Sometimes. Under the treaty, a UK company's business profits are generally taxable in the US only where they are attributable to a permanent establishment, such as an office or staff who habitually conclude contracts there. Without one, federal tax may not be due, but the treaty position is generally disclosed on Form 8833, often through a Form 1120-F. States are not generally bound by the treaty and apply their own nexus rules.
Why can't my US company be an S corporation if I live in England?
Because S corporation shareholders must generally be US citizens or US residents, along with certain trusts and estates. A non-resident alien shareholder ends the election. Founders living in the UK therefore usually choose between a C corporation, taxed at company level, and an LLC, taxed as a partnership or disregarded entity. HMRC may see each of these differently from the IRS, so the choice should be made with both countries' treatment in view.
Primary sources
What this page says is drawn from the official material below. Read it yourself; we would rather be checked than trusted.
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