The Corporate Transparency Act is real and not a scam. It was passed last year and went into effect in January of 2024. It requires US based companies to register and identify their owners with the federal government. Prior to this, you only registered your business with the state you created it in, and the federal government had no record of what businesses existed or who owned them. If your business was in existence prior to January 1, 2024, you have until December 31, 2024 to submit your filing. If your business was created during 2024, you had 90 days after creating the business to submit your filing. This post is focused on businesses that were created prior to 2024.
To comply, you must submit a Beneficial Owner Information (BOI) filing with FinCin, before the end of the year. There is no annual requirement, but you will need to file again if/when there is a change in ownership. There is no annual requirement. There is no fee to submit your filing. However, if you hire an attorney or CPA they may charge you a fee.
Who is required to file?
Most US companies are required to file a BOI, but there are some companies that are exempt from this requirement. A list of exempt companies is listed below. The filing asks for information on the beneficial owner(s) of the company. A beneficial Owner is the person who directly or indirectly exercises substantial control over the company, or controls at least 25 percent of the ownership interests of a reporting company.
What happens if you don’t file?
Failing to file a beneficial ownership report may result in civil or criminal penalties. Civil penalties include up to $500 for each day that the violation continues, or criminal penalties including prison for up to two years and/or a fine of up to $10,000. This is on the extreme end and there would need to be evidence that you willfully or intentionally delayed or refused to file.
Submit your report here or copy and paste this link: https://boiefiling.
Let us know if you have questions, or would like assistance with filing your report.
Tags: business, business owners, compliance, corporations, Entrepreneurship, filing requirement, llc
