Understanding the

CORPORATE TRANSPARENCY ACT

Understanding the Corporate Transparency Act

Learn how to report beneficial ownership information (BOI) to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and avoid fraudulent scams.

With the end of the year in sight, we are encouraging our business customers to complete their registration with FinCEN prior to the January 13, 2025, requirement. You are required to report your company’s BOI to FinCEN electronically through a secure filing system that is available via FinCEN’s BOI electronic filing website. For filing, additional information, and FAQs, please visit www.fincen.gov/boi.

As you prepare to file your registration, we encourage you to use caution, as FinCEN has learned of fraudulent attempts to solicit information from individuals and entities who may be subject to reporting requirements.

In 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act, a law that requires the reporting of new beneficial ownership information. This regulation is part of the U.S. government’s efforts to make it harder for bad actors to hide or benefit from their ill-gotten gains through shell companies or other opaque ownership structures.

This requirement, which took effect on January 1, 2024, means that U.S. companies must report information about their beneficial owners to FinCEN, a U.S. Department of the Treasury bureau. Beneficial owners are those individuals who ultimately own or control a company. Companies required to report may include, but are not limited to: corporations, limited liability companies, and other entities created in the United States by filing documents with a secretary of state, or a foreign company registered to do business in any U.S. state.

Companies created or registered:
  • Reporting companies that were created or registered prior to January 1, 2024 have until January 13, 2025 to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN. (These companies would otherwise have been required to report by January 1, 2025.)
  • Reporting companies created or registered in the United States on or after September 4, 2024 that had a filing deadline between December 3, 2024 and December 23, 2024 have until January 13, 2025 to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN.
  • Reporting companies created or registered in the United States on or after December 3, 2024 and on or before December 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 January 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 January 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.

FRAUDULENT SCAMS MAY INCLUDE:

Correspondence requesting payment. There is NO fee to file BOI directly with FinCEN. FinCEN does NOT send correspondence requesting payment to file BOI. Do not send money in response to any mailing that claims to be from FinCEN or another government agency.

Correspondence that asks the recipient to click a link or scan a QR code. Those emails or letters are fraudulent. Do not click any suspicious links or attachments or scan any QR codes in emails, on websites, or in any unsolicited mailings.

Correspondence that references a Form 4022, or an Important Compliance Notice. This correspondence is fraudulent. FinCEN does not have a Form 4022. Do not send BOI to anyone by completing these forms.

Correspondence or other documents referencing a U.S. Business Regulations Dept. This correspondence is fraudulent; there is no government entity by this name.