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Beneficial Ownership Reporting

New Federal Reporting Requirement for Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI), effective January 1, 2024. 
In 2021, Congress enacted the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act to curb illicit finance. This law requires many companies doing business in the United States to report information about who ultimately owns and controls them. 

Effective January 1, 2024, many companies in the United States must report information about their beneficial owners - the individuals who ultimately own or control the company - to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of Treasury. 

Filing is simple, secure, and free of charge. Beneficial ownership information reporting is not an annual requirement. Unless a company needs to update or correct information, a report only needs to be submitted once. 

Be sure to review the FinCEN's Small Entity Compliance Guide, which provides information to help small businesses comply with this reporting requirement. 
Companies required to report are called reporting companies. Reporting companies may have to obtain information from their beneficial owners and report that information to FinCEN. 

  • Your company may need to report information about its beneficial owners if it is:
    1. a corporation, a limited liability company (LLC), or was otherwise created in the United States by filing a document with the secretary of state or any similar office under the law of a state or Indian tribe; or
    2. a foreign company and was registered to do business in any U.S. state or Indian tribe by such filing. 
Twenty-three types of entities are exempt from beneficial ownership information reporting requirements, including publicly traded companies, nonprofits, and certain large operation companies. 

  • FinCEN's Small Entity Compliance Guide includes checklists for each of the 23 exemptions that may help determine whether your company qualifies for an exemption. Please review Chapter 1.2 of the Guide for more information. 
Reporting companies report beneficial ownership electronically through FinCEN's website: www.fincen.gov/boi. The system provides a confirmation of receipt once a completed report is filed with FinCEN.  
FinCEN began accepting reports on January 1, 2024.
  • If your company was created or registered prior to January 1, 2024, you will have until January 1, 2025 to report BOI. 
  • If your company is created or registered in 2024, you must report BOI within 90 calendar days after receiving actual or public notice that your company's creation or registration is effective, whichever is earlier. 
  • If your company is created or registered on or after January 1, 2025, you must file BOI within 30 calendar days after receiving actual or public notice that its creation or registration is effective. 
  • Any updates or corrections to beneficial ownership information that you previously filed with FinCEN must be submitted within 30 days. 
Generally, reporting companies must provide four pieces of information about each beneficial owner:
  • Name
  • Date of Birth
  • Address
  • Identifying number and issuer from either a non-expired U.S. driver's license, a non-expired U.S. passport, or a non-expired identification document issued by a State (including a U.S. territory or possession), local government, or Indian tribe. If none of those documents exist, a non-expired foreign passport can be used. An image of the document must also be obtained. 
The company must also submit certain information about itself, such as name(s) and address. In addition, reporting companies created on or after January 1, 2024, are required to submit information about the individuals who formed the company ("company applicants").