Stripe Atlas, Doola, Firstbase: Does Your LLC Count as U.S.? (Form 5472 Guide)

LLCs Formed Through Online Platforms

Many foreign entrepreneurs create their U.S. companies through online formation platforms without ever dealing directly with a state Secretary of State office. Platforms like Stripe Atlas, Firstbase, and doola handle the entire LLC formation process on your behalf, including filing the Articles of Organization with your chosen state.

How These Platforms Work

These services act as your registered agent and handle the filing process with U.S. states on your behalf. In the end, if your company's formation documents are filed with a U.S. state, the resulting LLC is a U.S. LLC — regardless of who handled the paperwork.

The platform is simply providing a convenience service. They handle the administrative burden of formation, but the legal entity created is no different from one you would form yourself by going directly to the state.

Your Filing Obligations Remain the Same

A formation platform does not change the entity's federal classification or Form 5472 analysis. A wholly foreign-owned U.S. disregarded entity generally files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 for a year in which it had a reportable transaction. Platform formation, owner funding, platform fees paid personally, distributions, and other related-party activity commonly create reportable transactions; a year with none of the transactions reportable in Parts IV, V, or VI can fall within the IRS instructions' filing exception.