Hello fellow business owners!
If your business, such as an LLC or a Corporation, was created by filing with a Secretary Of State in the U.S.; or is a foreign company registered to do business in the U.S., the following information likely applies to you. If you are a sole-proprietor, a taxpayer that files a Schedule C that is not an LLC, the following information about completing a Beneficial Owner Information (BOI) Report does not apply to you.
For the sake of mitigating criminality (money laundering, terrorism, …) every U.S. registered company must file a BOI report to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). There is an exception for sole proprietorships with or without a DBA (Doing Business As) registration and 23 exempted types of businesses. This means most LLCs and Corporations will have to file unless they are on the exemption list.
The filing must be done online. Access to filing and more information can be found on the official FinCEN website. If you need assistance, check with your local Small Business Association or Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts organization.
The report is simply to identify the person(s) owning and/or controlling a registered legal business entity, and, you will have to upload an identifying document. There is no cost to file and you file this once unless there is a change of ownership.
The filing deadlines are based on when your business was created
- Created before January 1, 2024, deadline December 31, 2024
- Created during 2024, deadline 90 days after creation
- Created after December 31, 2024, deadline 30 days after creation
The consequences of not filing on time can be steep, so it is important to not neglect your obligation to file.
You CAN do this yourself. You don’t need a lawyer, however if you have a complex corporate structure, multiple LLCs, partnerships or S-Corps, you may need help. According to a couple of Artisan Cooperative members who have already filed, it should be easy for most Artisan shops.
Scammers may contact you by email, snail mail or other means and offer to file for you for a fee. They may only be after a quick buck OR they may also be after the information (data) you would provide to them to file for you. The Texas Secretary of State’s website states, “The beneficial ownership information required by the CTA should only be submitted directly to FinCEN through its online Beneficial Ownership Secure System (BOSS).” One member of Team Money has already received a solicitation in the mail, so be careful out there. To determine if you need to file this report, please check out FinCEN BOI FAQs or take a look at the Small Entity Compliance Guide.
There is a benefit to you for filling out the BOI Report, other than avoiding penalties. You are protecting yourself by registering. If your EIN, name or other data were to get hijacked and used for nefarious purposes, your information is already registered, making it more difficult for criminals to get away with using it.
Disclaimer:
This is not intended to be legal advice but is provided for information purposes only; within Cooperative Principle 5 of Education, Training, and Information.