FileAbroad

Foreign corporation consultation

Own a Company Abroad? Map Its U.S. Classification, Ownership, and Annual Reporting Before You File.

A company organized abroad is not automatically a CFC, and an ownership percentage alone does not select Form 5471. The answer depends on U.S. entity classification, voting and value ownership, attribution, company activity, shareholder transactions, books, foreign taxes, prior filings, and the year. In a paid consultation, I map those facts and define the preparation or specialist work that should come next.

Start My Foreign Corporation Intake

The preliminary intake is free. Do not send sensitive tax documents through the public intake form.

30 minutes · Directly with Chip

The consultation

What we'll review

The consultation focuses on the facts that determine what needs further attention.

Entity and U.S. classification

The foreign legal form, governing documents, member or shareholder liability, owner count, and election history that must be established before treating the company as a corporation for U.S. tax purposes.

Ownership and filing categories

Direct, indirect, and constructive voting-power and value ownership, officer or director roles, stock events, control, CFC status, category exceptions, and the dates that change the analysis.

Company activity and shareholder transactions

Revenue, services, sales, assets, related parties, U.S. connections, compensation, loans, contributions, distributions, and other facts that can affect corporate and shareholder reporting.

Books, earnings, taxes, and currency

Local financial statements, U.S.-tax adjustments, functional currency, foreign taxes, earnings and profits, previously taxed earnings, stock basis, and the records needed for annual schedules and distributions.

Connected filings and next scope

Possible Form 5471 categories and schedules, section 951 or 951A questions, Forms 926, 8938, 8858, 8621 or company-level filings, prior-year issues, and whether FileAbroad or another specialist should handle the next stage.

After the call

What you leave with

By the end of the consultation, you should understand the issues that need attention and the next practical step.

  • A classification-and-ownership map showing the company, U.S. persons, relevant dates, roles, and transactions that control the filing screen.
  • The possible Form 5471 category, CFC income, distribution, related-form, and company-level U.S. questions that require further work—without presuming an answer from the company name or ownership percentage.
  • A focused records request for organizing documents, cap tables, books, foreign taxes, shareholder transactions, earnings and basis history, elections, and prior filings, with secure-document instructions after intake.
  • Whether the next stage appears to fit FileAbroad’s separately scoped preparation, belongs on the business-sale or partnership path, requires prior-year review, or needs legal, valuation, transfer-pricing, or international-corporate specialist input.

You are not required to hire FileAbroad for preparation after the consultation.

Scope

What the consultation does not include

The consultation is a review and scoping session. It does not include preparation or filing of a tax return, FBAR, information return, amended return, or Streamlined submission.

It also does not create an open-ended support engagement. Additional research, document review, preparation, or follow-up work is included only when it is specifically agreed or purchased.

FileAbroad does not provide legal advice or tax litigation services.

The process

How it works

  1. 1

    Start the intake.

    Tell me the broad facts of your situation without uploading sensitive tax documents through the public form.

  2. 2

    I review the inquiry.

    I personally review the intake to determine whether a FileAbroad consultation appears appropriate.

  3. 3

    Book the consultation.

    If the situation fits, you'll receive the next step for scheduling the 30-minute paid consultation.

  4. 4

    We review the situation together.

    We use the call to identify the relevant filing questions, missing information, and practical next step.

  5. 5

    Preparation is separate.

    If FileAbroad can accept preparation work, the scope and price are confirmed before that work begins.

Before you book

Questions we'll use to map your foreign corporation

What is the company’s exact legal name, country and date of organization, legal form, governing statute and documents, shareholder-liability structure, and U.S. entity-classification election history?
Who owned voting power and value—directly, indirectly, or through family, trusts, estates, partnerships, corporations, options, or other arrangements—on each relevant date, and what officer or director roles and ownership changes occurred?
What does the company do, where are its people, customers, services, inventory, assets, and management located, and what transactions occurred with you, related parties, or U.S. persons?
Which local returns, trial balances, financial statements, tax records, fixed-asset schedules, shareholder-loan records, distributions, compensation records, earnings-and-profits or previously taxed earnings workpapers, and currency data are available?
Which U.S. returns, Forms 5471, 8992, 926, 8938, 8858, 8621, elections, or other international forms were filed, and are any years missing, inconsistent, under notice, or affected by a formation, sale, liquidation, or deadline?
What should I send before the consultation?

Start with the public intake and describe the broad facts of your situation. Do not send Social Security numbers, tax returns, bank statements, or other sensitive tax documents through the public intake form. If documents are needed later, I will provide secure upload instructions.

Will you tell me exactly what I need to file?

The consultation is designed to identify the filing issues that need attention and the information required to determine the next step. Some questions can be resolved during the call; others may require records, additional research, or preparation work outside the consultation.

Do I have to hire FileAbroad afterward?

No. The consultation stands on its own. If FileAbroad can accept preparation work, you can decide whether to proceed after the scope and price are confirmed.

Can you review documents during the consultation?

Limited document review may be possible when agreed in advance, but the consultation is not a substitute for a full document review or tax-preparation engagement.

Related paths

If this is not the right starting point

Foreign corporation and CFC guide

Review the classification, ownership, annual records, current-inclusion, and distribution framework after its current-law update.

Form 5471 filing categories

See how officer, director, ownership, control, CFC, acquisition, disposition, and exception facts map to different categories.

Foreign entity classification

Start with the per-se, eligible-entity, limited-liability, and election questions before selecting a U.S. form.

Business abroad consultation

Use the broader path when classification is unknown or several foreign entity types must be reviewed together.

Foreign business sale consultation

Use the transaction path for a planned or completed stock, redemption, liquidation, or company asset sale.

Foreign partnership consultation

Use the partnership path when the classification and ownership facts point to a co-owned pass-through entity.

Foreign tax credit consultation

Use the credit path for a separately scoped shareholder-level foreign-tax and limitation analysis after the corporate facts are mapped.

Start here

Tell me what's going on.

You don't need to know which form, filing procedure, or service you need. Start with the broad facts, and I'll review whether a FileAbroad consultation is the appropriate next step.

Start My Foreign Corporation Intake

Prefer email? info@fileabroad.com

Do not send sensitive tax documents through the public intake form or ordinary email.