In 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act that created a new beneficial ownership information reporting requirement to make it harder for bad actors to hide ill-gotten gains. Beneficial ownership information refers to indentifying information about individuals who directly or indirectly own or control a company.
An entity created or registered before January 1, 2024, will have until January 1, 2025 to file. An entity created or registered after January 1, 2024, will have 90 days to file. An entity created or registered after January 1, 2025, will have 30 days to file.
Filings will be done electronically through a filing system available at https://boiefiling.fincen.gov
Entities such as corporations, limited liability companies and any other entities created by a filing with the state are required to file.
There are 23 types of exempt entities.
A beneficial owner is an individual who either directly or indirectly: (1) exercises substantial control over the company or (2) Owns at least 25% of the company.
Companies created or registered after January 1, 2024 will need to report their company applicants, which is the person who files documents to create or register the company.
Companies will have to report the following information about itself: (1) Legal name, (2) Trade names, (3) Address, (4) Jurisdiction of formation and (5) Taxpayer identification number.
Companies will have to report the following information about its beneficial owners and company applicants: (1) Name, (2) Date of birth, (3) Residential address and (4) Indentifying number for acceptable identification document such as passport or Drivers license.
There is NO annual reporting requirement, but companies must file updated or corrected reports as needed.
