Delinquent International Information Returns: Fixing Missing Forms 5471, 3520, 8938 and More

International information returns are the forms that tell the IRS about foreign things: Form 5471 for foreign corporations, Form 3520 for foreign trusts and large foreign gifts, Form 3520-A for foreign trusts with U.S. owners, Form 8938 for specified foreign financial assets, Form 8865 for foreign partnerships, and others. They often produce no tax. They often carry steep penalties anyway.

For people whose only problem is that these forms were never filed, the IRS has a procedure. Its title is the Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures, and the IRS page describing it was last reviewed April 19, 2026.

Who can use it

The IRS describes the eligible group as taxpayers who have identified the need to file delinquent international information returns, who are not under a civil examination or a criminal investigation by the IRS, and who have not already been contacted by the IRS about the delinquent information returns.

There is an implied condition in that description, and the IRS options page makes the structure clear. If you also have unreported income, the IRS points you toward the streamlined procedures or the Voluntary Disclosure Practice. This procedure is for information returns, not income.

How the filing works

The IRS says these returns should be filed through normal filing procedures, with two different tracks:

• Most forms, such as Forms 5471, 8865 and 8938, are attached to an amended income tax return and filed according to the amended return instructions.
• Forms 3520 and 3520-A are filed according to the instructions for those forms.

You may attach a reasonable cause statement to each delinquent information return for which you are asserting reasonable cause. For Forms 3520 and 3520-A, the IRS says to write "Reasonable Cause Statement attached" at the top of the first page.

How penalties are handled: read this twice

This is where expectations need to be managed. The IRS page states that penalties may be assessed in accordance with existing procedures.

For Forms 3520 and 3520-A, the IRS says reasonable cause statements will be considered before a penalty is assessed. For all other international information returns, the IRS says penalties may be assessed without considering the attached reasonable cause statement, and you may need to respond to IRS correspondence and submit or resubmit reasonable cause information.

In plain English: for a Form 5471 or Form 8938 filed under this procedure, a penalty notice may arrive first, and the reasonable cause argument may have to be made afterward, in response. Plan for that. Keep the statement, keep proof of mailing, and calendar the response deadline on any notice you receive.

What is at stake for each form

The penalty statutes for these forms are not small. A few examples from the Internal Revenue Code:

• Form 5471 (26 U.S.C. 6038): $10,000 for each annual accounting period, plus $10,000 for each 30-day period the failure continues more than 90 days after an IRS notice, with the increase capped at $50,000. Section 6038(c) can also reduce foreign tax credits. See Form 5471.
• Form 8938 (26 U.S.C. 6038D): $10,000, plus continuation penalties up to $50,000. See Form 8938 penalties.
• Form 3520, foreign gifts (26 U.S.C. 6039F): 5 percent of the gift for each month the failure continues, up to 25 percent. See Form 3520.
• Form 3520 and 3520-A, foreign trusts (26 U.S.C. 6677): the greater of $10,000 or 35 percent of the gross reportable amount, or 5 percent for certain owner failures under section 6048(b).

Each of these statutes has a reasonable cause exception. Sections 6038D(g) and 6677(d) also say that a foreign law penalizing disclosure is not reasonable cause.

The statute of limitations reason to act

Even if a penalty never comes, a missing international information return has a quiet cost. Under 26 U.S.C. 6501(c)(8), the time to assess tax for the return, event or period does not expire until three years after the required information is furnished. If the failure was due to reasonable cause, the extension is limited to the related items.

That means the return stays open until you file. Filing under this procedure starts the three-year clock. Waiting does not.

Two examples

The small foreign company. A U.S. citizen in Mexico owns 100 percent of a Mexican company that runs his consulting business. He reported his salary from the company on his U.S. return every year, but no one told him about Form 5471. He has a Form 5471 obligation for every year he controlled the company. If all income was reported and he meets the eligibility rules, this procedure lets him file the missing forms with amended returns and attach a reasonable cause statement. He should expect that a penalty notice could still arrive, and be ready to answer it.

The inheritance from abroad. A U.S. resident received a $250,000 inheritance from her mother, a nonresident alien, three years ago, and never filed Form 3520. No income tax was due on the inheritance itself. She files the delinquent Form 3520 under the form's instructions, writes "Reasonable Cause Statement attached" at the top, and attaches her statement. For Form 3520, the IRS says the statement will be considered before a penalty is assessed.

Why the order of filing matters

Because the IRS limits this procedure to people who have not been contacted about the delinquent returns and are not under examination, timing is everything. A letter from the IRS about one missing form can take the procedure off the table for that form. If you know you have missing information returns, the time to file them is before the IRS asks.

Writing the reasonable cause statement

A reasonable cause statement for an international information return should do three things: state the facts, connect them to ordinary business care and prudence, and show that you fixed the problem promptly once you found it. The accuracy-related penalty regulation, 26 CFR 1.6664-4, is a useful guide to how the IRS thinks about this. It says reasonable cause is decided case by case, and the most important factor is the extent of the taxpayer's effort to get the tax right. On reliance on an advisor, it says the advice must be based on all pertinent facts, and reliance fails if the taxpayer did not disclose a fact the taxpayer knew or should have known was relevant. So reliance on a preparer helps only if the preparer had the facts. Ignorance of the form, standing alone, is a weak argument. Ignorance combined with a reasonable effort to comply, reliance on a preparer who had the facts, and prompt correction is a better one.

Write it as if it will be read by someone who has seen a thousand of them, because it will be.

Choosing between this and streamlined

Whatever you file, keep complete copies, proof of mailing and the date you sent each form. If a penalty notice arrives months later, the first question will be when the information was furnished, because that date drives both the reasonable cause analysis and the section 6501(c)(8) clock.

If income was unreported and your conduct was non-willful, streamlined generally offers broader protection from information return penalties than this procedure does, at the cost of a certification and, for U.S. residents, a 5 percent penalty. If all the income was reported, this procedure and late FBARs are usually the tools. If you are unsure whether income was fully reported, find out before you choose, because picking the wrong program can cost you the better one.

And whichever path you take, do not quietly start filing the forms going forward without addressing the past years. Quiet disclosures leave the old years open and the penalties available. Let's talk about doing it the right way.