Policy analysis for foreign-owned U.S. LLC owners
Deep reads of the rules that actually move the needle for non-resident founders — written and reviewed by the ForeignLLCTax research team, in English and 中文, every claim tied back to a primary source.
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Research reports
Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) for Foreign Founders
What the alternative minimum tax is and when it reaches 1040-NR filers: the §§55-59 parallel system, 2025 vs 2026 OBBBA numbers, why 5472-only LLC owners can usually ignore it, the AMT foreign-tax-credit trap, and the ISO/SALT triggers.
Read the report →English reports
China's Overseas Investment Rules (Decree No. 837)
Deep read of China's State Council Decree No. 837 (effective July 1, 2026): for the first time covering resident individuals — indie-developer payments, incorporating abroad (ODI / Circular 37), the U.S.-stock broker crackdown, and the property/insurance no-go zone.
EnglishCP2000 Notice Response
What a CP2000 is, the 30/60-day response, foreign-owner triggers (1099-K/1042-S/wrong-TIN), response paths + letters, escalation to a Notice of Deficiency, statutes, and penalty defenses.
EnglishCreator Income Through a Foreign-Owned US LLC (AdSense, YouTube)
How a remote nonresident creator's AdSense, YouTube, sponsorship, and affiliate revenue is sourced (royalty vs services), when it becomes ECI, how the 24% vs 30% withholding flows through a disregarded LLC, and treaty royalty rates by country.
EnglishCrypto & Form 1099-DA for Foreign-Owned LLCs
The 2025-2027 Form 1099-DA phase-in, why the owner's W-8BEN/W-8BEN-E controls broker reporting, the unsettled trade-or-business analysis for offshore trading, staking and NFT income, FBAR vs Form 8938 for crypto-only foreign accounts, and reporting crypto capital contributions on Form 5472.
EnglishFIRPTA Withholding (Forms 8288 / 8288-B) for Foreign Sellers
How §1445 buyer-withholding of 15% of the amount realized meets the §897 gain tax when a foreign person — often through a disregarded single-member LLC — sells US real estate: the disregarded-entity look-through, the $300k/$1M residence-rate ladder, Forms 8288/8288-A and the 20-day clock, the Form 8288-B reduced-withholding certificate, and the installment-sale + early-refund crossovers.
EnglishFixing Late or Missed FBARs
DFSP vs Streamlined for past-due FBARs, BSA E-Filing backfile mechanics, the 6-year statute, entity/signature/spouse filer mapping, and post-Bittner non-willful penalties.
EnglishForeign Corp (1120-F) vs Foreign-Owned LLC (5472)
Which US tax regime applies — the foreign-corporation Form 1120-F path vs the foreign-owned disregarded-LLC Form 5472 + pro forma 1120 path, how they can coexist, branch profits tax, protective filing, and conversion trade-offs.
EnglishForeign Qualification: Registering a US LLC Across States
When a Wyoming, Delaware, or New Mexico LLC must register as a foreign entity elsewhere — the transacting-business tests in CA, NY, TX, FL, and WA, how qualification differs from tax nexus, the California franchise-tax trap, and a state-by-state decision framework.
EnglishForeign Tax Credit — Form 1116
Separate §904(d) baskets, source rules, the high-tax kickout, carryback/carryover, the $300/$600 de minimis exemption, FTC vs deduction, and AMT FTC.
EnglishForm 3520 & 3520-A — Foreign Trusts and Large Foreign Gifts
What Forms 3520/3520-A actually report — foreign trusts and large foreign gifts, not foreign companies: the §6048 buckets, the five-year pre-immigration deemed-transfer trap, gift thresholds and aggregation, §6677/§6039F penalty math, relief paths, and the remediation sequence.
EnglishForm 706-NA — Estate Tax for Nonresident Aliens
The ~$60k US-situs filing trigger vs the multimillion-dollar citizen exclusion, what counts as US-situs, the LLC/partnership situs controversy, treaty relief (Canada/France/Germany/UK), Form 706-NA mechanics, and pre-death planning (foreign blocker corp).
EnglishForm 8832 — Advanced Entity Classification
Late-election relief, the 60-month revocation limit, foreign-owner C-corp elections for treaty access, the no-S-corp trap, effective-date rules, and state non-conformity.
EnglishImport & Customs Compliance for a Foreign-Owned US LLC
Importer-of-record setup with no SSN (EIN / CBP Form 5106), single-entry vs continuous bonds, the mid-2026 tariff stack (Section 301, ended IEEPA, §122 surcharge), the death of de minimis, HTS classification and origin, the §1059A customs-vs-tax bridge, and §1592 penalties.
EnglishInstallment Sales (Form 6252) for Foreign Sellers
IRC §453 installment method for foreign sellers of US real estate, businesses, and partnership interests — Form 6252, FIRPTA withholding (8288-B), recapture, related-party and §453A rules, imputed interest, and California sourcing.
EnglishIRS Penalties & Enforcement
The 5472 $25k penalty and escalation, FBAR (post-Bittner), Form 8938, reasonable cause + First-Time Abatement, statute of limitations, and 2023-2026 enforcement.
EnglishK-1 for Foreign Partners (K-3, 8805 & 1042-S)
How a foreign partner reads the partnership stack: K-1 allocations, K-3 Part X character columns, and 8805/1042-S withholding credits — the §1446(a) chain, reconciling without double counting, 1040-NR/1120-F filing triggers, and the W-8 and state K-1 traps.
EnglishPayroll & Employment Taxes for a Foreign-Owned LLC
Why the disregarded LLC itself is the payroll employer under §301.7701-2: Form 941 vs 944, 2026 FICA/FUTA rates, EFTPS deposit schedules, W-2/W-3 year-end filing, the owner-level ECI consequence of a US hire, and state work-state registration.
EnglishSection 1031 Exchanges & FIRPTA for Foreign Owners
How a nonresident or foreign corporation defers gain under Section 1031 on US investment real estate while FIRPTA still withholds 15% at closing — the like-kind clocks, Form 8288-B certificate, the qualified-intermediary trap, California's FTB 3840 clawback, and the estate-tax tradeoff.
EnglishState Sales Tax Nexus
Economic nexus thresholds after Wayfair, marketplace facilitator laws (Amazon/Etsy/Shopify), SaaS & digital taxability, when to register, and penalties.
EnglishStreamlined Filing Compliance Procedures (SDOP & SFOP)
Practitioner's guide to fixing years of unreported foreign income and accounts non-willfully: SDOP vs SFOP eligibility, Forms 14654/14653, the 5% offshore penalty math, DIIRSP vs Delinquent FBAR vs VDP, and 2023-2026 FBAR case law.
Compliance & risk guides
Evergreen guides on the positions and pitfalls our research keeps coming back to.
USTB Risk
When passive income becomes a US trade or business — the costliest mistake.
FBAR
Foreign bank account reporting — who must file and when.
BOI Status
US-formed LLC BOI exemption and the remaining foreign-company reporting rule.
Transfer Pricing
Pricing transactions between your LLC and your foreign company.
Section 1446 Withholding
Partnership withholding on income allocated to foreign partners.
W-8BEN Brokerage Trap
How a wrong W-8BEN gets your brokerage to over-withhold.
About this research. Written by the ForeignLLCTax research team for general information only — it is not legal or tax advice and does not create a client relationship. Regulations change; always confirm against the primary sources cited in each report and your own qualified adviser before acting.