By now you might have heard of the new Corporate Transparency Act, and specifically of the Beneficial Ownership Report, which is a new Federal law enacted with the purpose of trying to curb money laundering and other financial crimes. Virtually everybody has to file it or face steep penalties. In a nutshell, LLCs and Corporations need to disclose the information of the owners who directly or indirectly own the company, called beneficial owner(s)*.

Although this is not a service that we offer, we want to take a moment to let you know that it is definitely needed and something you need to take care of. For existing companies**, companied formed prior to 2024, have till the end of the year to submit the filing (if you have incorporated this year, then you have 90 days from the day of incorporation to get it done). The good thing is that it is pretty easy to do and it’s not a yearly requirement (however, if the company moves or the ownership changes, you’ll need to file an amendment).

Here is how to take care of this requirement:

Please be ready with:

• A picture of your Driver License or U.S. Passport you will be asked to upload;
• Basic company info: Company Name, State of Incorporation, Tax Identification Number (tax ID/EIN), Company Address;
• Ownership information (Names, Residential Address, Date of Birth, Driver License or Passport picture, ready to upload of every person considered a beneficial owner*).

**When you get to question “16. Existing reporting company” you will check ✅ this box and continue with the form as per instructions.

To file, go to: https://boiefiling.fincen.gov/fileboir

You can select whether you prefer to download the PDF file (sometimes there is an error message and it won’t be possible) and fill out at your own time then upload to their system or, if you would like to prepare and submit it in one session. In that case, go here: https://boiefiling.fincen.gov/boir/html

* taken from https://www.fincen.gov/boi-faqs#A_4: Who is a beneficial owner of a reporting company? A beneficial owner is an individual who either directly or indirectly: (1) exercises substantial control over a reporting company (see Question D.2), or (2) owns or controls at least 25 percent of a reporting company’s ownership interests (see Question D.4). Because beneficial owners must be individuals (i.e., natural persons), trusts, corporations, or other legal entities are not considered to be beneficial owners. However, in specific circumstances, information about an entity may be reported in lieu of information about a beneficial owner (see Question D.12).