A single member LLC is by default, a disregarded entity. You would need to file form 8832 if you wanted to be treated as an S corporation. For foreign businesses, you need to file form 8832 if you want to be classified as a corporation (C corporation), or a partnership, or a disregarded entity that is different from the owner. If you don’t file the form and you are not a foreign corporation, then you are a disregarded entity by default.
There is no deadline to file this form, however the election can’t be more than 60 days retroactive. So if you wanted to be treated as an S C corporation from the start, it’s too late. But it would not be too late to file to be treated as a corporation beginning effective January 1, for example.
However, it sounds like you don’t want to do this and you want to be treated as a disregarded entity and file a schedule C. This is perfectly acceptable, and it’s the default position.
Incidentally, the IRS does not recognize LLCs, they are creations of state law and not recognized by federal law, and every state has slightly different rules. Whatever you have formed in the country where you live, as long as it is not a corporation according to the law of the foreign country, you will be treated as a disregarded entity.
It appears to me that filing form 5471 was incorrect, since you are not an officer, a director, or shareholder of a foreign corporation. I am assuming this to be correct based on your description that your business is organized similar to an LLC.
If you are a disregarded entity, you do not need an EIN unless you are paying employees. You can use your Social Security number for your business. However, many people prefer to get an EIN so they don’t have to give their personal Social Security number to their contractors and vendors. You can get an EIN on line at the IRS web site in about 15 minutes.
Last but not least, if you really are a foreign corporation, then all bets are off, everything I said above is may be wrong, and you need to seek immediate professional assistance. Just because you think your business is “basically an LLC“ under Swedish law doesn’t mean that you have not made a serious misunderstanding. A US LLC is not a corporation, it is a limited liability company formed under state law and is not recognized as a corporation by federal law. However, if Sweden recognizes you as a corporation, then you are a corporation and you must deal with your US tax returns from that point of view.
