BOIR - No Fines, New Deadlines to post March 21st

On March 2, 2025, US Treasury announced that U.S. citizens and businesses will not be subject to fines or penalties for failing to file BOI reports after new reporting deadlines are set. Furthermore, US Treasury will set forth new guidelines focusing on foreign entities.

Wednesday, February 19th - Federal district court lifted the last remaining nationwide injunction that halted the filings. Disaster relief extension will remain in place, April 2025. See if you are eligible at

WWW.FINCEN.GOV

Willful violations are punishable by a fine of $606 a day, up to $10,000, and two years in prison with similarly serious penalties for unauthorized disclosure.

FinCEN: Companies that do not file BOI reports also are not subject to liability while the injunction remains in place. The injuction filed in Texas nullified the extension of January 13th, 2025. US DOJ has not filed an appeal.

On Dec. 31, 2024, the DOJ filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court to stay the district court injunction preventing enforcement of the CTA. The injunction remains, and filing is voluntary. Justice Alito set a Jan. 10, 2025, deadline for the plaintiffs to respond. The AICPA advises gathering required information and being ready to file if the injunction is lifted.https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2025/jan/doj-asks-supreme-court-to-block-injunction-on-boi-reporting.html

On Dec. 26, 2024, - Supreme Court says plaintiffs must respond by Jan 10. the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the motion to stay the BOI reporting injunction, making the BOI reporting requirements voluntary. The AICPA is seeking further guidance and advocating for more delays.

History:

Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) as an anti-money-laundering initiative. Any entity that is registered with their state, a "Reporting Company" must disclose beneficial owner's names, addresses, and upload a supporting document to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) database.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which enforces the CTA, has estimated that over 32 million reporting companies will be required to file BOI reports.

(This does not pertain to sole proprietors with DBAs or FBNs)

Despite the multiple cases claiming that the requirement is unconstitutional, the DOJ said the government is likely to succeed in its case

BEWARE OF SCAMS

FinCEN also reports that there are fraudulent scams related to reporting. Reporting does not charge for reporting. Watch out for

• References a “Form 4022” or “Form 5102” - SCAM

• References to a “US Business Regulations Dept.”

• Correspondence regarding penalties. FinCEN does NOT send initial correspondence regarding CTA penalties via e-mail or over the phone. Do not submit payments via phone, mail, or websites as requests/directions to do so are fraudulent.

To learn more or file your own BOIR go to: https://www.fincen.gov/boi