New Government Reporting that is real

[GH85Carrera]

This is not some PARF post warning of some mystical possible government overreach! it is current US LAW.

The Corporate Transparency Act (signed into law on January 1, 2021) expanded anti-money laundering laws and created new reporting requirements for certain companies doing business in the US Beginning in 2024, many small businesses are required to report information about their beneficial owners to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in an effort to create a national database for use by national security and law enforcement agencies to prevent the use of shell companies for criminal activity.
Who Must File.

Both domestic and foreign reporting companies are required to file reports. A company is considered a reporting company if a document was filed with the secretary of state (SOS) or similar office to create or register the entity. Corporations (including S corporations), LLCs, and other entities formed through the SOS are subject to the reporting requirements. But, because sole proprietorships, trusts, and general partnerships do not require the filing of a formal document with the SOS, they generally are not considered a reporting company and will not have a filing requirement. Foreign companies are required to file reports if they are registered with the SOS or similar office under state law.

What Information Must be Provided.
Beneficial ownership information (BOI) must be reported for the reporting company’s beneficial owners and (for entities formed or registered after 2023) company applicants. BOI includes an individual’s full legal name, date of birth, street address and a unique ID number. The unique ID number can be from a non-expired US passport, state driver’s license, or other government-issued ID card. If the individual does not have any of those documents, then a non-expired foreign passport can be used. An image of the document showing the unique ID number must also be included with the report.
Beneficial Owners.

Two groups of individuals are considered beneficial owners of a reporting company: (1) any individual who directly or indirectly owns or controls at least 25% of the ownership interests of the reporting company; or (2) any individual who exercises substantial control over the reporting company.

Individuals with substantial control are those with substantial influence over important decisions about a reporting company’s business, finances, and structure. Senior officers (president, CFO, general counsel, CEO, COO, and any other officer who performs a similar function) are automatically deemed to have substantial control, as are individuals with the authority to appoint or remove senior officers and board members. There is no requirement that these individuals have actual ownership in the company to be a considered a beneficial owner for reporting purposes.

Company Applicants.
The company applicant is the person who actually files the document that creates or registers the reporting company (e.g., an attorney). Company applicants must provide the same information that is required of beneficial owners, but only if the reporting company is formed or registered after 2023. Because of the difficulty in tracking down information about company applicants for reporting companies that have been in existence for a number of years, reporting companies formed or registered before 2024 do not have to supply BOI for their company applicants.
FinCEN Identifiers.

Individuals and reporting companies can request a FinCEN Identifier (FinCEN ID) to use in place of supplying detailed information on the report. A FinCEN ID is a unique number assigned by FinCEN which is obtained by submitting the same information as is required of a beneficial owner or reporting company. A FinCEN ID may be useful to individuals that prefer to send their personal information directly to FinCEN rather through a reporting company, or to individuals that may be required to supply information as a beneficial owner or company applicant of several reporting companies.
Important Filing Dates.

For existing reporting companies created or registered before 2024, the initial report is due by January 1, 2025. For reporting companies created or registered in 2024, the initial report is due 90 days after the entity’s creation or registration. For reporting companies created or registered after 2024, the initial report is due 30 days after the entity’s creation or registration.

If there is a change to previously reported information about the reporting company or its beneficial owners, an updated report must be filed within 30 days of the change. So, it is imperative that your company implement a system to identify reportable changes and file an updated report with FinCEN in a timely manner. The penalties for willfully failing to file both initial and updated reports are steep-$500 per day that the report is late, up to $10,000 and imprisonment for up to two years.
How to File.

BOI reports must be filed electronically. FinCEN’s e-filing portal, available at https://boiefiling.fincen.gov/, provides two methods to submit a report: (1) by filling out a web-based version of the form and submitting it online, or (2) by uploading a completed PDF version of the BOI report. Some third-party service providers may also offer the ability to file the BOI report through their software. The person who submits the BOI report will need to provide their name and email address to FinCEN. There is no fee for filing the report.

If you have any questions about these new reporting rules and how they affect your business, we would be happy to discuss them with you and provide you with recommendations for legal counsel assistance. FinCEN also has a Small Entity Compliance Guide and frequently asked questions to help guide businesses through the reporting requirements. These are available at https://www.fincen.gov/boi/small-business-resources.

One thing to remember, if you move or change anything, you can be fined for not reporting that you moved!

I filed mine today. Get it done soon, but for sure before the end of the year.

[rwest]

Thanks for the reminder Glenn.

I got a notice on it from MN Secretary of State’s office recently and I forgot about it already.

I will do it now.

[Norm K]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

If you have any questions about these new reporting rules ...

Golly, how anyone could possibly have questions after reading that is beyond me.

_

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Norm K

Golly, how anyone could possibly have questions after reading that is beyond me.

_

First, scan your drivers license or passport or what ever ID form you choose to give them.

Just go to the web site, and start filling it out. It is not bad filling it out on line. Just fill in every blank spot. I have two businesses, so I get to do it again for the second business.

[Zeke]

This is all because of the abuse of shell holding companies and LLC's. 100% compliance will be impossible.

[pwd72s]

Uncle Sam wants to know...well, everything.

Orwell was an optimist.

[rwest]

I just filled it out online and hopefully did it right. You’ll need your EIN or similar and a picture of your ID- needs to be fairly low res, I had to take a second picture after adjusting the setting to VGA to get it to upload.

There are several sections and because I’m the only employee and my home is the business location, I had to type in the same address a few times.

Wasn’t too difficult or time consuming.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by rwest

I just filled it out online and hopefully did it right. You’ll need your EIN or similar and a picture of your ID- needs to be fairly low res, I had to take a second picture after adjusting the setting to VGA to get it to upload.

There are several sections and because I’m the only employee and my home is the business location, I had to type in the same address a few times.

Wasn’t too difficult or time consuming.

Yea, it seems to feel like groundhog day. My business is run from my house. I have a EIN of course, and I just scanned my driver's license at 300 PPI and saved it as a PDF and it uploaded file. You also get to type in you DL number twice, your address twice and name and so on.

That $500 per DAY penalty got my attention. Don't forget to register and business you have a controlling interest in.

[Por_sha911]

"For your protection" is always the opening line for the government taking away you privacy, and rights. You know, its just like for your safety we won't allow you to defend yourself with a firearm...

What could possibly go wrong?

[GH85Carrera]

I finally got my two companies registered.

What a typical lousy web site. Only the US government could do one so bad.

I had to enter my name address, in three different places. I had to upload an image of my driver's license twice, and enter my DL number and DOB multiple times. And then I had to add my business partner's info two times for each company. Very tedious, and the dumbest thing is they send me PDF that lists my FinCEN ID number. It starts with a 2. When I tried to update the first form and it asked for my FinCEN number and I entered the number I had, it said NO, you can't have a number that starts with a 2. WTF.

Anyway, get it done if you have any controlling interest in any company of more than 25%.

[berettafan]

More pita bs from a govt that has forgotten who it serves.

[356RS]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

"For your protection" is always the opening line for the government taking away you privacy, and rights. You know, its just like for your safety we won't allow you to defend yourself with a firearm...

What could possibly go wrong?

I agree 100%.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by 356RS

I agree 100%.

No doubt. Evidently the congress wants to make money laundering much more difficult, and they put real teeth into the law. At least for law abiding citizens.

A maximum penalty of 10K and prison time means nothing to a drug dealer making hundreds of thousands per month selling illegal drugs, or running a prostitution and human tracking or just gang business of protection schemes.

It means a LOT to me, as I have never been arrested, had handcuff on, and I am a taxpaying citizen that enjoys freedom to go about my business. I report every penny of my company income and expenses and file my taxes on time. Jail time and $500 per day fines means a LOT to me.

[zakthor]

I just submitted. I thought the website worked really well. Scary well. Like that time I accidentally called a super polite scammer instead of comcast.

Anyone that thinks that fincen website sucks should maybe try using the online paid versions of tax software like turbotax, taxact, taxhawk, etc. Maybe it means I'm an old man if the government website seems to work flawlessly and the entries make sense?

I'm all for this beneficial filing. Sure there's drug dealers, etc, where this will do no good, but there's also a ton of hnw individuals that are avoiding taxes with these shell games. I'm all about enabling the gubnint to untie those networks. Looking at you south dakota...

Filling out this form made my heart swell with patriotism - simple pleasure for a simple mind.

[GH85Carrera]

Yea, the site works well, but it is crazy that I have to enter my name, address and driver's license three times.

No doubt, the crooks will totally ignore the filing. When they are clearing millions in cash, and selling illegal drugs, a fine is pretty much not something they worry about.

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Uncle Sam wants to CONTROL...well, everything.

Orwell was an optimist.

fixed it for you

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by zakthor

I just submitted. I thought the website worked really well. Scary well. Like that time I accidentally called a super polite scammer instead of comcast.

Anyone that thinks that fincen website sucks should maybe try using the online paid versions of tax software like turbotax, taxact, taxhawk, etc. Maybe it means I'm an old man if the government website seems to work flawlessly and the entries make sense?

I'm all for this beneficial filing. Sure there's drug dealers, etc, where this will do no good, but there's also a ton of hnw individuals that are avoiding taxes with these shell games. I'm all about enabling the gubnint to untie those networks. Looking at you south dakota...

Filling out this form made my heart swell with patriotism - simple pleasure for a simple mind.

South Dakota has no income tax, corporation tax, low col, low sales tax, low property tax, low vehicle registration, ect…. What America was before the states got greedy. Call them out as you’re happy to grab your ankles….

[zakthor]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

fixed it for you

Huh. I happen to be rereading 1984 right now. this registration of beneficial owners seems like the sort of thing that Goldstein would have advocated, and been a focus for the two minutes of hate.

How dare he steal our privacy! Tax cheating is our sacred right!

Why exactly is this fincen disclosure disturbing? Domino theory? Slippery slope?

Personally seems like a good step.

https://listen.sdpb.org/politics/2021-10-04/investigation-sd-trust-companies-serve-leaders-companies-accused-human-rights-abuses

[Crowbob]

It’s bad because it’s an expansion of government.

Any expansion of government results in the contraction of liberty.

The relationship is not always obvious. For example, hooda thought negotiating a mutually beneficial financial transaction between a borrower and lender would be used to allow the government to steal your stuff? All of your stuff.

[Sooner or later]

History

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/enforcement-of-boi-and-corporate-transparency-act-suspended-by-treasury-department-trump-reacts-this-biden-rule-101740984674212.html