稅務講座-- 關於 5471表格(Form 5471)
張裕華會計師Philip Chang, CPA

What is Form 5471?
“Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations” simply means U.S. Persons, Ownership & Control of Foreign Corporation. There are five different categories of filer. Category 1 was repealed by Sec 413 (c)(26) of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004.

Who Must File?
Any U.S. person has ownership and/or control of a foreign corporation, and the corporation’s officer, director, or shareholder. U.S. person is definite U.S. citizen, resident, domestic partnership, corporation, and estate or trust.

Ownership & Control
Category 2 filer is when U.S. person has 10% ownership. Category 3 filer is when either acquires or disposes stock ownership or become U.S. person with 10% ownership
Category 4 filer is when U.S. person has control of the foreign corporation for an uninterrupted period of at least 30 days. Category 5 filer is when U.S. person has ownership in a CFC for an uninterrupted period of at least 30 days or more during any tax year of the foreign corporation, and who owned that stock on the last day of that year.

CFC (Controlled Foreign Corporation)
A CFC is a foreign corporation that has U.S. shareholders that own (directly, indirectly, or constructively, within the meaning of Sec 958 (a) and (b) on any day of the tax year of the foreign corporation, more than 50% of the total combined voting power of all classes of its voting stock or the total value of the stock of the corporation.

Form 5471 with Schedules
Schedule A is Stock of the Foreign Corporation. Schedule B is U.S. Shareholders of Foreign Corporation. Schedule C is Income Statement. Schedule E is Income, War Profits, and Excess Profits Taxes paid or Accrued. Schedule F is Balance Sheet. Schedule G is Other Information. Schedule H is Current earnings and Profits. Schedule I is Summary of Shareholder’s Income From Foreign Corporation. Schedule J is Accumulated earnings and Profits (E&P) of Controlled Foreign Corporation. Schedule M is Transactions Between Controlled Foreign Corporation and Shareholders or Other Related Persons. Finally, Schedule O is Organization or Reorganization of Foreign Corporation, and Acquisitions and Dispositions of its Stock.

When and Where to File
Attach Form 5471 with all required schedules to your Income Tax Return, Individual (1040) Partnership (1065) Corporation (1120) exempt organization (990) and/or others. File both by the due date your income tax return (Including Extension).

Penalties
A $10,000 penalty is imposed for each annual accounting period of each foreign corporation for failure file on time. If the information is not filed within 90 days after the IRS has mailed a notice, an additional $10,000 penalty per foreign corporation is charged for each 30-day period after the 90-day period has expired. The additional penalty is limited to a maximum of $50,000 for each failure.