International Tax CPA for Foreign-Owned U.S. Businesses
International & Cross-Border Tax
We help foreign founders, non-resident e-commerce sellers, and global investors stay compliant with the IRS — and stop losing sleep over forms they didn’t know existed. A dual-licensed CPA with Big 4 and CFO experience, serving clients across more than 15 U.S. states and worldwide, entirely by remote engagement.
Serving foreign founders and investors worldwide, including: United States · United Kingdom · Netherlands · Belgium · Portugal · Canada · Australia · Egypt — and beyond.
Who We Help
Almost every client on this page arrived the same way: a general accountant handled their books competently until money started moving across a border, and then missed something that only a cross-border specialist would catch. These are the situations we handle every week.
Foreign owners of U.S. companies
You set up a U.S. LLC or corporation from abroad — often to sell online, hold property, or invoice U.S. customers — and you’re not sure which federal and state returns you actually owe. Frequently, no one told you that a foreign-owned LLC has filing obligations even with no revenue.
Owners of both a U.S. and a foreign company
You control an operating company overseas and one or more entities in the United States. That combination pulls you into controlled-foreign-corporation territory — Form 5471, GILTI, and foreign tax credits — where the cost of getting it wrong is measured in tens of thousands of dollars per form.
Non-resident e-commerce sellers
You sell on Amazon, Shopify, or your own store into the U.S. market from outside the country. Imported inventory, marketplace payouts, sales-tax nexus, and foreign-owner reporting all land at once, and off-the-shelf bookkeeping tools don’t reconcile them correctly on their own.
Cross-border investors
You hold U.S. real estate or business interests, or you’ve sold a significant foreign asset. Those events trigger reporting — FBAR, Form 8938, and withholding rules — that a routine 1040 preparer often doesn’t screen for.
Buyers and sellers of U.S. entities
You’re acquiring or selling a U.S. LLC and need the transfer done cleanly: ownership mechanics, EIN continuity, and whether the entity is taxed as a partnership or a disregarded entity after closing — because that single decision sets your entire go-forward filing path.
Foreign companies selling directly into the United States.
You operate through a company formed outside the United States and sell to American customers without a U.S. subsidiary. Inventory stored at a U.S. warehouse or 3PL, employees or agents, direct e-commerce sales, and import activity may create sales-tax, customs, federal income-tax, state-filing, and treaty questions—even if you never formed a U.S. entity. We determine which registrations and returns may apply and whether remaining a foreign seller or forming a U.S. subsidiary better fits your operations.
Foreign-Owned U.S. LLCs and Form 5472
A U.S. LLC with a single foreign owner is disregarded for income tax, but it is not invisible to the IRS. It is treated as a domestic corporation for reporting purposes and must file Form 5472 together with a pro forma Form 1120 every year in which it has a reportable transaction — and forming the company, funding it, or paying its expenses generally counts as one.
The penalty for filing late, incompletely, or not at all is $25,000 per form, per year, and it applies whether or not the business made a dollar of profit. We routinely meet founders who owe several years of these forms without knowing it. The fix is a structured catch-up: we reconstruct the reportable transactions, file the open years before they compound, and put a calendar in place so it never happens again.
Where it commonly goes wrong
Assuming a zero-revenue or pre-launch company has nothing to file.
Treating the LLC as fully disregarded and skipping the pro forma 1120 entirely.
Recording owner contributions and reimbursements in a way that hides the reportable transactions.
Controlled Foreign Corporations, Form 5471 and NCTI—Formerly GILTI
Certain U.S. persons who are officers, directors, or shareholders of foreign corporations may have Form 5471 filing obligations. When U.S. shareholders own more than 50% of a foreign corporation by vote or value—after applying the applicable direct, indirect, and constructive ownership rules—the company may be a controlled foreign corporation.
For tax years beginning after December 31, 2025, the Section 951A inclusion previously called Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income, or GILTI, is called Net CFC Tested Income, or NCTI.
A U.S. shareholder may have a current U.S. income inclusion even when the foreign company does not distribute cash.
What we analyze
- Form 5471 filing categories and required schedules
- Direct, indirect, and constructive ownership
- NCTI and Subpart F income
- Available high-tax rules, exceptions, and elections
- Section 962 modeling for eligible individual shareholders
- Foreign tax credits and previously taxed earnings
- Consistency between the foreign company’s records and the U.S. return
We model the available alternatives under current law rather than assuming that one election or structure is appropriate for every shareholder.
FBAR and Form 8938: Foreign Accounts and Assets
FBAR and Form 8938 are separate reporting regimes with different definitions, thresholds, and filing procedures.
The FBAR—FinCEN Form 114—generally applies when a U.S. person’s aggregate foreign financial accounts exceed $10,000 at any point during the year.
Form 8938 applies to specified taxpayers whose specified foreign financial assets exceed thresholds that vary based on filing status and whether the taxpayer lives inside or outside the United States.
Directly held foreign real estate is not itself reported on Form 8938. However, an interest in a foreign company, partnership, trust, or account connected to the property may be reportable. Foreign gifts and inheritances may also trigger Form 3520 rather than—or in addition to—FBAR and Form 8938.
Our foreign-reporting review covers
- FBAR and Form 8938
- Form 5471 for foreign corporations
- Form 8865 for foreign partnerships
- Forms 3520 and 3520-A for certain foreign gifts and trusts
- Form 8621 for certain foreign investment funds
- Schedule B foreign-account questions
- Prior-year filing gaps and available compliance procedures
E-Commerce Accounting for Non-Resident Sellers
Selling into the U.S. from abroad multiplies the moving parts. Marketplace payouts arrive net of fees and reserves, imported goods have to be recorded as inventory rather than expensed, and sales tax follows its own map entirely. We build books that reconcile to the platform and support every downstream filing.
How we set up the accounting
- Reconcile Amazon, Shopify, Walmart, Stripe, PayPal, and other settlement activity
- Establish an appropriate inventory and cost-of-goods-sold method
- Separate marketplace-collected sales tax from seller-collected tax
- Track owner contributions, loans, reimbursements, and distributions
- Reconcile bank, platform, inventory, and general-ledger balances
- Produce monthly reports that support tax filings, financing, and business decisions
We support both e-commerce accounting and tax compliance and Odoo bookkeeping and accounting. For inventory-based businesses using Odoo, we can coordinate the Accounting, Inventory, Sales, Purchase, and eCommerce modules so operational transactions flow correctly into the financial records
Multi-State Sales Tax and Economic Nexus
Sales tax is separate from federal and state income tax.
Inventory stored at Amazon FBA or another U.S. fulfillment center can create physical nexus. Direct sales through Shopify or your own website may create economic nexus after a state’s sales or transaction threshold is exceeded.
Marketplace facilitators frequently collect tax on marketplace sales, but marketplace collection does not always eliminate registration, return-filing, exemption-certificate, or direct-channel obligations.
How we help
- Map inventory, fulfillment locations, and sales by state
- Identify physical and economic nexus
- Determine where registration is required
- Separate marketplace sales from direct-channel sales
- Reconcile seller-collected and marketplace-collected tax
- Review resale and exemption certificates
- Prepare returns directly or coordinate filings through Avalara
- Correct prior-period filing gaps where required
Learn more about our sales-tax nexus and compliance services.
U.S. Real Estate Tax for Foreign Investors
Foreign ownership of U.S. real estate can create federal income-tax, withholding, state-filing, and estate-tax considerations.
The appropriate reporting depends on whether the property is owned directly, through a U.S. LLC, through a partnership or corporation, or through a foreign entity. Rental-income treatment and deductions can also depend on whether a nonresident owner makes a valid Section 871(d) election.
How we help foreign property owners
- Pre-purchase tax-structure analysis in coordination with legal counsel
- Forms 1040-NR or 1120-F when applicable
- Section 871(d) rental-income election analysis
- ITIN applications connected to a federal filing requirement
- Rental bookkeeping, depreciation, and expense reporting
- State income-tax and registration requirements
- FIRPTA withholding and return coordination when property is sold
- Review of potential U.S. estate-tax exposure
- Tax analysis for a sale, exchange, or ownership restructuring
Learn more about our real-estate tax services.
Buying, Selling, or Restructuring a U.S. Entity
When ownership of a U.S. LLC changes hands, the paperwork feels heavier than it is — and the real risks aren’t the ones people worry about. Ownership passes on the signed assignment at closing and is effective immediately. Many states never record members, so there is often no state filing at all. The IRS steps are largely background record-keeping; the one item that genuinely needs deliberate sequencing is the bank signatory change, so control of the money moves exactly when it should.
What does deserve attention before you sign is structure: whether the entity is taxed as a partnership or a disregarded entity after closing, whether the EIN carries over, and how the purchase is characterized. Those choices set the go-forward filing path for years, which is why we map them into the deal rather than after it.
How We Work
Diagnostic first
Before we quote ongoing work, we review every entity and the last filed returns to find what’s missing or inconsistent. You get a clear picture of where you stand and what it takes to get right — no surprises later.
Fix the past before the present
When a prior year is wrong, we correct it before filing the current year, so the two are consistent and defensible. Filing a clean current-year return on top of a broken prior year just moves the problem forward.
Flat, transparent fees
We separate one-time catch-up work from ongoing service and price both in writing. For early-stage businesses we can phase the monthly fee so it starts low — or at no charge — and steps up only as sales begin. Pricing is never tied to your turnover or transaction count.
Built for remote, cross-border clients
Most clients never visit the office. We work by secure document exchange and can keep all communication in writing, which matters when English isn’t your first language or your time zone is twelve hours away.
Why Founders Choose Us
Dual-licensed CPA with Big 4 and CFO experience — the technical depth of a large firm with direct partner access.
ACCA (UK) credential and genuine cross-border fluency, not a domestic practice dabbling in international work.
QuickBooks ProAdvisor and Avalara sales-tax partner — the bookkeeping and the compliance under one roof.
Protection Plus audit defense included, so you’re covered if the IRS asks questions.
Remote-first, written-friendly, and flat-fee — built for how international clients actually work
International tax CPA
A free, no-obligation consultation. Bring your situation; we’ll tell you where you actually stand and what it takes to get compliant.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. We serve founders and investors based in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Canada, Australia, and Egypt, among others. Most of our international clients never set foot in our office. We run engagements entirely by email and secure document exchange, and we can keep all communication in writing when that’s easier for you.
Yes. We read the income-tax treaty between the U.S. and your country to determine where each type of income is taxed, reduce or eliminate double taxation, and claim the correct treaty position and foreign tax credits. It’s a core part of every cross-border engagement.
A foreign-owned single-member U.S. LLC generally must file Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year, even with no revenue. Missing it carries a penalty of $25,000 per form, per year. We run a catch-up to bring prior years current before they compound.
Form 5472 reports transactions between a U.S. entity and its foreign owner or related parties. Any foreign-owned U.S. LLC or corporation with reportable transactions generally must file it annually, alongside a pro forma Form 1120.
Usually no. Ownership passes on the signed assignment at closing and is effective immediately. Many states never record members, so there’s often no state filing at all. The IRS steps are background record-keeping; only the bank signatory change needs deliberate sequencing.
Yes. We prepare FBAR (FinCEN 114) and Form 8938, and we screen for them proactively. A large foreign sale or account is exactly the kind of item that triggers these forms and is easy for a general practitioner to miss.
If you own a controlling stake in a foreign corporation, you likely have a controlled foreign corporation — which means Form 5471 and a GILTI calculation. We model the outcomes, including the high-tax exclusion and the Section 962 election, so you’re neither overpaying nor exposed.
We separate a one-time catch-up to get you compliant now from ongoing monthly service, and we can phase the monthly fee so it starts low — or at no charge — and steps up only as your sales begin. Pricing is flat and not tied to your turnover.
We serve clients across more than 15 U.S. states and internationally, with deep focus on e-commerce, foreign-owned entities, and multi-entity groups. Multi-state sales tax is handled through our Avalara partnership.