Foreign-Owned Single-Member Wyoming LLC: US Filings and Records for the Indian Owner's Adviser

This article answers the questions a practitioner is likely to face when an Indian resident owns a single-member Wyoming limited liability company outright: which US returns and records are required, why a year without revenue can still need a federal filing, how owner transactions are to be documented, and how an EIN is obtained without a US social security number.

It matters now because the penalties attach to missing or poorly supported information returns rather than to tax due, and the position on beneficial ownership reporting changed in 2026. The discussion proceeds on the footing of a sole foreign owner whose tax year is the calendar year; where the year differs, only the federal dates shift. The owner's Indian obligations, namely foreign-asset disclosure in the income-tax return and the FEMA overseas-investment rules, are outside its scope and rest with the owner's Indian adviser.

Q1. How is such an LLC treated for US federal purposes?

For federal income tax a single-member LLC is ignored as a separate taxpayer; it is a disregarded entity. Form 5472 works differently: there, a US LLC held entirely by one foreign person is treated by the IRS as a corporation. Each tax year the LLC therefore sends the IRS a pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472 enclosed.

Form 5472 reports dealings between the entity and its owner. Whether the owner owes US income tax on what the LLC earns is a different question, turning on the business facts, and is not resolved here.

Q2. When is the federal return due, and can it be extended?

The return falls due on the fifteenth day of the fourth month following year end, so for a calendar-year LLC the date is 15 April, unless an extension applies. Form 7004, filed before the ordinary Form 1120 due date, requests the extension, and once it is validly granted the filing date moves with it.