2024 Form 5471 Penalties | International Tax Lawyer & Attorney
Failure to timely and correctly submit Form 5471 with a US tax return may lead to an imposition of Form 5471 penalties. In this article, I will discus the most important 2024 Form 5471 penalties that US taxpayers may face if they fail to comply with the Form 5471 requirements.
2024 Form 5471 Penalties: Purpose of Form 5471
We first need to understand the purpose of Form 5471 and broadly identify who may need to file this form. The IRS Form 5471 is an extremely complex form that is used to satisfy the reporting requirements of mainly two esoteric sections of the Internal Revenue Code: 26 U.S.C. § 6038 (“Information reporting with respect to certain foreign corporations and partnerships”) and 26 U.S.C. § 6046 (“Returns as to organization or reorganization of foreign corporations and as to acquisitions of their stock”).
It should be noted that Form 5471 is used to satisfy other US tax provisions, especially after the 2017 tax reform. IRS §§ 6038 and 6046, however, are most relevant for our discussion of Form 5471 penalties.
Certain US citizens and US tax residents who are officers, directors or US shareholders of a foreign corporation may need to file Form 5471 and accurately comply with its reporting requirements. Failure to file Form 5471 or failure to file a correct Form 5471 may result in the imposition of steep IRS penalties.
The First Set of 2024 Form 5471 Penalties: Failure to file information required under section 26 U.S.C. § 6038(a)
From the outset, it is important to note that 26 U.S.C. § 6038 applies to two different parts of Form 5471: the Form 5471 proper (i.e. the first six pages containing the identifying information and Schedules A through I plus Schedules H and I-1) and Schedule M of Form 5471. Failure to file either is enough to trigger a $10,000 penalty for each annual accounting period of each foreign corporation. If the IRS sends the taxpayer a notice of a failure to file, an additional $10,000 penalty (per foreign corporation) will be charged for each 30-day period (or fraction thereof), during which the failure continues after the 90-day period in which the notification occurred, has expired. This additional penalty is limited to a maximum of $50,000 for each failed filing.
Furthermore, there is an income tax penalty associated with the failure to comply with 26 U.S.C. § 6038 in a timely manner – the taxpayer may be subject to a 10% reduction of certain available Foreign Tax Credits. A further 5% reduction may be applied for each 3-month period (or fraction thereof), during which the failure to timely report or file continues after the 90-day period of IRS notification has expired. (26 U.S.C. § 6038(c)(2) places certain limitations on this penalty).
The Second Set of 2024 Form 5471 Penalties: Failure to file information required by 26 U.S.C. § 6046 and related regulations (Form 5471 and Schedule O)
In addition to 26 U.S.C. § 6038 Form 5471 penalties, there is also an additional set of Form 5471 penalties associated with 26 U.S.C. § 6046 (Form 5471 and Schedule O). Failure to comply with 26 U.S.C. § 6046 will subject the taxpayer to another $10,000 penalty for each failure to file for each reportable transaction. Additionally, if the failure to report or file continues for more than 90 days after the date the IRS mails notice of this failure, an additional $10,000 penalty will apply for each 30-day period (or fraction thereof) during which the failure continues after the 90-day period has expired. This additional penalty is limited to a maximum of $50,000.
2024 Form 5471 Non-Compliance May Result in Criminal Penalties
In addition to civil penalties under 26 U.S.C. § 6038 and 26 U.S.C. § 6046, criminal penalties may apply to Form 5471 filers in certain circumstances. In particular, a willful failure to file an accurate Form 5471 may activate the broad provisions of 26 U.S.C. § 7203 (“Willful failure to file return, supply information, or pay tax”), 26 U.S.C. § 7206 (“Fraud and false statements”), and 26 U.S.C. § 7207 (“Fraudulent returns, statements, or other documents”).
2024 Form 5471 Penalties and Persons Other Than the Filer
In situations where the filer should have filed Forms 5471 for other persons, but failed to do so, Form 5471 penalties may be extended to these other persons.
Contact Sherayzen Law Office For Help With 2024 Form 5471 Penalties and Compliance
If you partially or fully own a foreign corporation, you may be subject to the Form 5471 requirements. As explained in this article, failure to timely and/or correctly comply with your Form 5471 filing obligations may result in steep Form 5471 penalties.
Contact Sherayzen Law Office today for professional help concerning Form 5471 penalties, including engaging in offshore voluntary disclosures involving Form 5471.
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