Updated rules here: https://www.irsmedic.com/blog/2020/irs-form-5471.html#whatisform5471category IF YOU OR YOUR CLIENT NEED HELP WITH FORM 5471 FILING AND PENALTY CONTACT US FOR IMMEDIATE HELP ---- 888 477-4258 info@irsmedic.com There is no Form 5471 Category 1. But there are Categories, 2, 3, 4, and 5. So which one are you? Watch this video to find out. Contact us at 888-727-8796 if you need assistance with your foreign or domestic tax problem (and yes, your information will be subject to the attorney client privilege). We’ve successfully assisted thousands of clients deal with IRS issues. You can also email us at info@irsmedic.com. www.irsmedic.com You are NOT a Category 1 Form 5471 filer. How do I know this? Because the Category 1 Form 5471 filing requirement has been repealed by section 413(c)(26) of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, which repealed 26 USC section 6035. Now look at that, with only 4 categories remaining, we are 20% through! Talk about progress. But before we get to the last four categories, we first answer these questions: Why do I need to know what type of Form 5471 Category filer I am — either I have to file a Form 5471 or I don’t, right? Why can’t the IRS just say who has to file a Form 5471 and who doesn’t? To answer question “2,” I would simply observe “Efficiency is not the goal of government. Government is the goal of government.” This observation I hereby coin the Chesterfield-Wake Phenomenon (for no other reason than it sounds impressive). Notably, the Chesterfield-Wake Phenomenon has a corollary:”If an efficiency exists in government it exists only to serve government.” E.g., government payroll checks are efficiently direct deposited. With that out of the way, I think we should answer the first question: Why do I need to know what type of Form 5471 Category filer I am? The answer is that with Form 5471, there are numerous additional schedules to file. Your Form 5471 category determines which additional Form 5471 Schedules you need to file: A Category 2 Form 5471 filer has to file Form 5471 Schedules G an O. A Category 3 Form 5471 filer has to file Form 5471 Schedules A, B, C, E, F, G, and Schedule O Part II. A Category 4 Form 5471 filer has to file Form 5471 Schedules A, B, C, E, F, G, H, I, J, and M. A Category 5 Form 5471 filer has to file Form 5471 Schedules A, G, H, I, and J. We will go over each schedule and what to do about dormant foreign corporations in future parts. But to conclude this article on the Categories, there really is no other way to find out which type of filer you are than to read the Form 5471 instructions from irs.gov copied below. This is the part that while consequential, will likely not be interesting. For detailed filing category info: https://www.irsmedic.com/2016/03/08/form-5471-filer-categories/ For TurboTax/foreign interests, article/video: https://www.irsmedic.com/2016/02/26/turbotax-fbar-foreign-income/ http://www.irsmedic.com Serving US taxpayers worldwide "Real Tax Attorneys for Tough Tax Problems" IRS Medic: Parent & Parent LLP 212.256.1335 888-727-8796 Twitter: https://twitter.com/irsmedic Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheIRSMedic