About simple5472
Built by a foreign founder who got blindsided by Form 5472 — for the next one in line.
Philipp Hoffschröer
Founder, simple5472
The story
Hi — I'm Philipp Hoffschröer. I'm a non-U.S. founder who, like a lot of people on the internet, opened a U.S. LLC because every Stripe Atlas tweet said it was the easy path. Nobody mentioned Form 5472.
§6038A and a $25,000-per-year penalty are not the kind of thing you want to discover by accident. When I went looking for help, I found two options: pay $800–$1,500 to a CPA who would ask me to fill out a spreadsheet I already understood, or fight a fillable PDF from the IRS website at midnight before a deadline. I wanted a third option — a tool that just let me enter what I already knew, in plain language, and produced the forms in the format the IRS publishes. That tool didn't exist. So I built it.
simple5472 is the result. It's bootstrapped — no funding round, no upsell ladder, no “schedule a call with our specialist.” Flat price, you keep control of every field, you walk out with a completed PDF you review and submit yourself.
What this is — and what it isn't
What it is
- Self-service software that formats your inputs into the IRS-expected layout for Form 5472 and Pro Forma 1120.
- A guided wizard — you select, you confirm, you sign.
- A flat-fee, no-subscription, no-account-manager product.
- Optional convenience-fax transmission of your signed PDF to the IRS fax line where supported — you remain the filer of record; we only transmit the package you reviewed and signed.
What it isn't
- Not a law firm, CPA firm, or enrolled agent.
- Not a tax return preparer under IRC §7701(a)(36) — we do not hold a PTIN.
- Not a source of tax or legal advice. We will not tell you whether you have a filing obligation.
- Not a guarantee of IRS receipt, acceptance, or any outcome.
That's not disclaimer theatre — it's how the product is actually built. Every field is filled by you. simple5472 doesn't infer facts, evaluate legal questions, or make filing determinations on your behalf. If your situation has any real wrinkle (multiple owners, foreign disregarded entities up the chain, IRS contact already in motion, anything off the well-trodden path), you should talk to a qualified tax professional. The eligibility screener will tell you that before you pay.
Why this matters to you
Bootstrapped means the only people I have to keep happy are the people who pay for this. No investor pressure to bolt on subscriptions, upsells, or “premium review” tiers. The product gets simpler over time, not more complicated. If something on this site is unclear, broken, or wrong, the email below goes to me.
Who we are, on paper
Laurasia LLC d/b/a simple5472
1309 Coffeen Avenue STE 1200, Sheridan, WY 82801
Support
support@simple5472.comIf you are unsure whether your situation requires professional judgment, hire a qualified tax professional.
simple5472 is built for the well-defined common case: a single foreign owner, a default-classification single-member LLC, and no IRS contact already in motion. If any of that doesn't describe you, the eligibility screener will say so before you spend money. We'd rather lose a sale than be the wrong tool for the job.