The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has extended the Jan. 1, 2025, deadline for most reporting companies to file beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports with the Treasury Department until Jan. 13, 2025, after a federal court of appeals lifted an injunction on Dec. 23 that had halted the new law.
CBS News reported on Tuesday:
An anti-money laundering law called the Corporate Transparency Act, or CTA, is now back in action after a Monday court ruling that will require millions of small business owners to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, by mid-January, or potentially pay fines of up to $10,000.
The registration rule had been on hold since Dec. 3, when a federal court in Texas issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting its enforcement. But on Monday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the order, ruling that the decision is in the “public’s urgent interest in combating financial crime and protecting our country’s national security.”
The CTA requires that the owners and part-owners of an estimated 32.6 million small businesses must register personal information with FinCEN, such as a photo ID and home address, by Jan. 1. With the court ruling that enforcement can proceed, many small business owners may scramble to register ahead of deadline, although FinCEN said on Monday that it is extending the deadline until Jan. 13 due to the late December court ruling.
In an alert, FinCEN said the BOI reporting deadlines have been extended as follows:
- Reporting companies that were created or registered prior to Jan. 1, 2024, have until Jan. 13, 2025, to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN. (These companies would otherwise have been required to report by Jan. 1, 2025.)
- Reporting companies created or registered in the United States on or after Sept. 4, 2024, that had a filing deadline between Dec. 3, 2024, and Dec. 23, 2024, have until Jan. 13, 2025, to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN.
- Reporting companies created or registered in the United States on or after Dec. 3, 2024, and on or before Dec. 23, 2024, have an additional 21 days from their original filing deadline to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN.
- Reporting companies that qualify for disaster relief may have extended deadlines that fall beyond Jan. 13, 2025. These companies should abide by whichever deadline falls later.
- Reporting companies that are created or registered in the United States on or after Jan. 1, 2025, have 30 days to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN after receiving actual or public notice that their creation or registration is effective.
- As indicated in the alert titled “Notice Regarding National Small Business United v. Yellen, No. 5:22-cv-01448 (N.D. Ala.)”, Plaintiffs in National Small Business United v. Yellen, No. 5:22-cv-01448 (N.D. Ala.)—namely, Isaac Winkles, reporting companies for which Isaac Winkles is the beneficial owner or applicant, the National Small Business Association, and members of the National Small Business Association (as of March 1, 2024)—aren’t currently required to report their beneficial ownership information to FinCEN at this time.
Following the Texas federal court’s injunction of the law earlier this month, the AICPA and several state CPA societies had advocated for a delay in the BOI reporting deadline.
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Tags: Accounting, Small Business
