We have one more report that has to be filed now, as business owners, as per the federal government.

In 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act on a bipartisan basis. This law creates a new beneficial ownership information reporting requirement as part of the U.S. government’s efforts to make it harder for bad actors to hide or benefit from their ill-gotten gains through shell companies or other opaque ownership structures.

FinCEN launched the BOI E-Filing website for reporting beneficial ownership information (https://boiefiling.fincen.gov) on January 1, 2024.

A reporting company created or registered to do business before January 1, 2024, will have until January 1, 2025, to file its initial BOI report.

A reporting company created or registered in 2024 will have 90 calendar days to file after receiving actual or public notice that its creation or registration is effective.

A reporting company created or registered on or after January 1, 2025, will have 30 calendar days to file after receiving actual or public notice that its creation or registration is effective.

Here is their FAQ page: https://www.fincen.gov/boi-faqs

Rockin' Robins Notes on the process:

1. Have a digital copy of your Drivers License handy

2. Have your Tax ID # available, legal address, and legal company name!

3. On Item #3, there's a checkbox for "Request to receive FinCEN ID", and it's not required, but it is helpful to track your data for filing again later if anything changes!

4. If the person filing (Company Applicant) and the company owner (Beneficial Owner) is the same person, you'll just submit your information twice.

5. It doesn't cost anything, you only have to do it once, and be sure to keep the transcript it provides you with your company identification documents!

There is no annual reporting requirement. Reporting companies must file an initial BOI report and updated or corrected BOI reports as needed.

Who Needs to File a BOI?

• Reporting Companies Required to File: All entities that meet the definition of a "reporting company" are required to file BOI reports with FinCEN unless they qualify for an exemption.

• Types of Reporting Companies: There are two categories of reporting companies, which are:

  1. Domestic Reporting Company

  2. Foreign Reporting Company

Tax Entities and Industry Specifics:

• They do not specifically differentiate between tax entities like LLCs, Sole Proprietors, S-Corps, or C-Corps regarding the requirement to file a BOI. It instead uses the broader term "reporting companies" which implies that the requirement to file is determined based on the entity's status as domestic or foreign and whether it qualifies for exemptions rather than its tax entity type or industry.

Basically, from what we gather, every small business we know and work with falls under these new reporting requirements.

If you need help, please feel free to reach out!

Rock on,

The Rockin' Robins Tool Time Team 🚀🔧