Most US penalties are for forgetting, not for owing.

A foreign-owned US LLC that earned nothing at all still has to file, and the largest penalty in the system is charged for missing a form rather than for owing tax. Tell us about your company once and we will email you before each deadline that actually applies to it.

Free, and not a contract. A reminder before each deadline that applies to your company, and nothing else — no newsletter, no drip sequence. Unsubscribe whenever you like. General information about US filing requirements, not tax or legal advice.

Free, no cardOnly the deadlines that apply to youUnsubscribe any time
A blue calendar with one date glowing yellow on a floating island, beside a golden service bell and a shield

Set up your reminders

Six fields. We will work out which deadlines apply to your company from the entity type, the state and the formation date, and email you before each one. Free, and you can stop them with a single reply.

We will never ask you for an EIN, an ITIN, a passport or bank details to set up a reminder, and you should treat anyone who does with suspicion. Reminders only — no newsletter, no sales sequence. Brio is not a law firm, a CPA firm, an enrolled agent practice or a tax adviser; a reminder tells you a date is approaching, it does not determine that a filing applies to your facts.

Why a company that made no money still gets fined

The trigger is a date, not a profit.

Most people forming a US company assume the filings start when the money does. They do not. A US LLC with a single foreign owner must file Form 5472 attached to a pro forma Form 1120 every year, and the trigger is a reportable transaction rather than income — money you put in, money you take out, and forming the company all count. The penalty for missing it is $25,000, with a further $25,000 possible for each 30-day period once the IRS has notified you and 90 days have passed.

Underneath that sits a second layer nobody warns you about: the state. Your formation state wants an annual report, and in many states a franchise tax with it. Miss those for long enough and the state does not fine you so much as quietly stop recognising your company — it falls out of good standing, and eventually gets administratively dissolved. Banks and payment processors notice that before you do.

None of it is complicated. It is just that the dates are different for every company, they are spread across the year, and nothing arrives in your inbox to warn you. That is the entire problem this page exists to solve.

Four dates that catch people out

These are the ones we are asked about after the fact rather than before.

15 April — Form 5472

The big one. A foreign-owned single-member LLC files it with a pro forma Form 1120, whether or not it traded. There is no e-file route — it goes by fax or post, which is exactly why it gets missed. Extension to 15 October on Form 7004.

15 March — Form 1065

The moment your LLC has a second member it stops being a disregarded entity and becomes a partnership, and the deadline moves a month earlier than most people expect. Each member needs a Schedule K-1. Extension to 15 September.

15 June — Form 1040-NR

Your personal return, if you have US-source income effectively connected with a US trade or business. 15 June rather than April when you had no US wages subject to withholding. Many foreign owners of non-US-operating LLCs have no 1040-NR obligation at all — which is worth confirming rather than assuming in either direction.

Your state's annual report — the date moves

Delaware wants an LLC's annual tax by 1 June and a corporation's report and franchise tax by 1 March. Florida wants its report by 1 May. Several states run on your formation anniversary instead of a fixed date, so no two companies are alike. This is the one a generic calendar gets wrong.

Not sure which of these apply to your company?That is what the form works out. Tell us the entity type, the state and the formation date, and we will only send you the ones that are actually yours.

A reminder, or just the dates?

Two different things, and plenty of people only need the second.

Reminders, if:

  • You would rather be told than have to remember
  • You have more than one company, or a company plus a personal filing, and the dates have started overlapping
  • You have missed one before, or nearly did
  • Your formation state runs on an anniversary date you can never remember

Just the calendar, if:

  • You want every date right now, in one list, without giving anyone your company details
  • You keep your own calendar and only need the .ics file
  • You are checking a single date rather than planning a year

The deadline calendar does the second job and does it immediately. This page does the first. They are free either way, and using one does not sign you up for the other.

What we watch

Built from what you tell us about the company, not a generic list.

The federal filings for your entity type

Form 5472 with its pro forma 1120 for a foreign-owned single-member LLC; Form 1065 and the K-1s for a partnership; Form 1120 for a C corporation; Form 1120-S where an S election is in place.

Your state's annual report and franchise tax

Including the states that run on your formation anniversary rather than a fixed calendar date, which is where generic reminders go wrong. See our annual report filing service if you would rather we simply filed it.

Your personal return, if you have one

Form 1040-NR at 15 June, and the estimated payments at 15 June, 15 September and 15 January if you owe US tax. We flag it as possibly applies rather than telling you it does — that determination is not ours to make.

Extension deadlines, not just the originals

If you file a Form 7004 extension, the real date becomes 15 September or 15 October. A reminder that stops at the original deadline is worse than useless, because it lets you relax at exactly the wrong moment.

The registered agent renewal

Not an IRS deadline, but losing your agent drops the company out of good standing just as effectively as missing a report. Ours renew automatically; if your agent is elsewhere we will still remind you.

What we do not do

We do not file anything because you got a reminder, and we do not charge you for the reminder. If you want the filing handled as well, that is our US tax filing service and it is a separate, paid decision you make deliberately.

Before we go further: what this is, and what it is not

Brio is not a law firm, a CPA firm, an enrolled agent practice or a tax adviser. A reminder is a reminder. We will tell you a date is coming and what the form is; we will not tell you what your tax position is, and whether a particular filing applies to your specific facts is a question for a qualified US tax professional.

This is also free, and it is not a contract. Setting up reminders does not commit you to buying anything from us, and we will not put you on a mailing list. If you would rather just see the dates and put them in your own calendar, the deadline calendar gives you all of them and an .ics file, with no reminders attached.

Would you rather just see every date now?The deadline calendar gives you the whole twelve months and an .ics file immediately, with no sign-up and no reminders.

The federal year, at a glance

The dates a non-resident-owned company runs into most often. Not all of them apply to every company — which is the point of telling us your details rather than reading a list. Where a deadline falls on a weekend or a federal holiday the IRS moves it to the next business day.

DateWhat falls due
15 JanuaryFinal quarterly estimated payment for the previous tax year (Form 1040-ES).
31 JanuaryForm 1099-NEC to contractors, and the W-2/W-3 and payroll returns if you have employees.
15 MarchForm 1065 and the Schedule K-1s for a multi-member LLC. Form 1120-S for an S corporation. Forms 8804/8805 and 1042/1042-S where foreign partners or withholding are involved.
15 AprilForm 5472 with the pro forma Form 1120 for a foreign-owned single-member LLC. Form 1120 for a C corporation. Form 1040 and the first estimated payment. FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR).
15 JuneForm 1040-NR for a non-resident with no US wages subject to withholding, and the second estimated payment.
15 SeptemberExtended Form 1065 and Form 1120-S. Third estimated payment.
15 OctoberExtended Form 5472 and Form 1120. Extended Form 1040.
VariesYour state's annual report and franchise tax — fixed date in some states, formation anniversary in others.

What we need from you

Six things, none of them sensitive. We are not asking for an EIN, a tax number or a document.

  • Your company's legal name, so the reminders say which company they are about when you have more than one.
  • The state it was formed in — this decides the annual report and franchise tax dates.
  • Its formation date, because several states run their annual report on the anniversary rather than a fixed day.
  • The entity type — single-member LLC, multi-member LLC, C corporation, or an LLC with an S election.
  • Whether the owner is a non-US resident, which is what brings Form 5472 into play.
  • An email address to send the reminders to.

That is the whole form. We do not need your EIN, your ITIN, your passport or your bank details, and you should be wary of anyone who asks for those to set up a reminder.

How it works

You fill in the form below

Six fields. If we already act for the company we have all of it and you can just tell us that.

We work out which deadlines actually apply

From the entity type, the state and the formation date — rather than sending you the same list as everyone else.

We email you before each one

Naming the company, the form, and the date. If an extension moves the date, you get the moved date too.

You file it, or we do

The reminder is free and carries no obligation. If you would rather hand the filing over, say so and we will quote for it — but nothing happens automatically and you are never billed for a reminder.

Free, and it stays free.No card, no contract, and no obligation to buy a filing service afterwards.

Brio is not a law firm, a CPA firm, an enrolled agent practice or a tax adviser. The answers below are general information about US filing requirements, not advice on your position. A reminder tells you a date is approaching; it does not determine that a filing applies to your facts. That is a question for a qualified US tax professional.

Common questions

Is this really free?

Yes, and there is no card and no trial. We do it because a client whose company is in good standing is worth more to us than a fee for sending an email, and because most people who miss a deadline then need help fixing it — which is the expensive version of this conversation for both of us. You can unsubscribe at any time and it does not affect anything else we do for you.

How is this different from the deadline calendar?

The calendar is a tool: you enter your details, it shows you every date in the next twelve months and hands you an .ics file, and that is the end of it. It does not contact you again. This page is the opposite — nothing to look at now, but an email before each deadline as it comes round. Use whichever fits how you work, or both.

Will you email me about anything else?

No. Reminders only. You will not be added to a newsletter and you will not get a sequence of sales emails because you signed up. If you want to hear from us about something else you can ask, and if you want to stop the reminders one reply is enough.

My company is dormant. Do I still need this?

Probably more than an active one does, because a dormant company is exactly the one whose owner stops thinking about it. Form 5472's trigger is a reportable transaction rather than profit, and forming the company and funding it are both transactions. States do not waive annual reports for inactivity either. Filing is the safe default when the penalty for getting it wrong is $25,000.

Will a reminder tell me whether I actually owe tax?

No, and you should be suspicious of anything that claims to. A reminder tells you a filing date is approaching for a form that commonly applies to a company like yours. Whether it applies to your facts, and whether any tax is owed, depends on things we cannot see from a sign-up form. Brio is not a law firm, a CPA firm, an enrolled agent practice or a tax adviser, and that is a question for a qualified US tax professional.

What if I want you to just handle the filings?

That is a different, paid service and we would rather you chose it deliberately than drifted into it. US tax filing covers the federal side including Form 5472, and annual report filing covers the state side. Signing up for reminders does not start either of them.

Set it up once, and stop carrying the dates in your head.

Six fields, no card, and a reminder before each deadline that applies to your company. Unsubscribe whenever you like.