Complete Guide to BOI Report
The article discusses everything you need to know about beneficial ownership information reporting in the United States, including who must file a beneficial ownership information report, what information you need to report, when is the report due and how to file the BOI report quick and easy.
What is Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Reporting?
In 2021, the US Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). This law aims to prevent bad actors such as drug traffickers, corrupt government officials, terrorists, and other criminals from using the US financial system to hide assets or launder money through shell companies or other opaque ownership structures. As part of the CTA, the US government creates a new beneficial ownership information reporting requirement.
In the CTA, beneficial ownership information refers to identifying information about the individuals who directly or indirectly own or control a company.
The beneficial ownership reporting information requirement in the United States goes into effect on January 1, 2024, and requires certain types of companies created or registered to do business in the United States to report information about the company, its beneficial owners and the individuals who formed the company, known as company applicants, to the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), an agency of U.S. Department of Treasury.
How is Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Used?
Federal, State, local, and Tribal officials will have access to beneficial ownership information in the United States. Access will be provided only for authorized activities related to national security, intelligence, and law enforcement. In rare cases foreign officials will also have access. To gain access to beneficial ownership information, foreign officials must submit a request through a U.S. Federal government agency. Financial institutions will also be able to access beneficial ownership information but only with the consent of the reporting company. The financial institutions’ regulators such as SEC will also have access to beneficial ownership information when they supervise the financial institutions with access to beneficial ownership information.
Unlike in other countries, such as in the United Kingdom, beneficial ownership information will not be publicly accessible on the internet or through other means. Beneficial ownership information reported to FinCEN will be stored in a secure, non-public database using rigorous information security methods.
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How to File BOI Report in The United States?
If you are required to file beneficial ownership information report, also known as BOI report, you can do so electronically through a secure filing system available on FinCEN’s website or skip the login process and use our easy and streamlined filling form at https://boireport.com/file-boi-report/ to submit your BOI report with FINCEN.
GATHER
DOCUMENTS
Make sure you have all of the necessary documents and paperwork that are required.
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INPUT
INFORMATION
Enter all of your information into our secure database for processing.
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SUBMIT -
YOU'RE DONE!
Once you've verified your information, you can submit to file your BOI report.
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Who Can File BOI Report on Behalf of a Reporting Company?
A reporting company can authorize any person to file BOI on its behalf. Typically, that person is an employee, an owner, or third-party service provider such as an attorney or accountant.
When submitting the BOI report, authorized individual filers should be ready to provide basic contact information about themselves. That includes first and last name and email address.
When to File BOI Report in of The United States?
A company created or registered to do business in the United States before January 1st, 2024, will have until January 1st, 2025, to file its initial beneficial ownership information (BOI) report.
A company created or registered to do business in the United States on or after January 1st, 2024, and before January 1st, 2025, will have 90 calendar days to file its initial BOI report. This 90-day deadline runs from the time the company receives official confirmation that its creation or registration in the USA is effective, or after a secretary of state or similar office publishes a public notice of its creation or registration, whichever is earlier.
A company created or registered to do business in the United States on or after January 1st, 2025, will have 30 calendar days to file its initial BOI report.
What are the Steps to File BOI Report in of The United States?
- Gather Documents – Make sure you have all of the necessary documents and paperwork to determine who are the beneficial owners and company applicants. That could be bylaws, share certificates, share registers, operating agreements and/or partnership agreements.
- Input Information – Enter all of your information into our streamlined form for processing at https://boireport.com/file-boi-report/.
- Review & Submit – Once you’ve verified your information, you can submit your BOI report with us to be securely filed with FINCEN.
What Information Do I Need to File BOI Report in of The United States?
Companies must report three categories of information to fulfil the FinCEN BOI reporting requirement:
• Filling Information
• Company Information
• Beneficial Owner Information
• Company Applicant Information
Filing information. For each BOI report FinCEN needs the following info:
- Report Type – if it is an initial BOI report, an update BOI report or a correction BOI report.
- If update BOI report or a correction BOI report, the following info is required as used in the last BOI report submitted:
- Company legal name
- Taxpayer identification number type (SSN, EIN, ITIN or foreign tax identification number)
- Taxpayer identification number
- Jurisdiction of formation or of first registration to conduct business in USA
Company information. A reporting company must report the following company information to FinCEN:
- Company legal name and any trade name or DBA
- Street address of principal place of business
- Jurisdiction of formation or of first registration to conduct business in USA
- Taxpayer identification number type (SSN, EIN, ITIN or foreign tax identification number)
- Taxpayer identification number
Beneficial Owner Information. The BOI report must include the following information about each beneficial owner:
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Residential address
- Document number and image of any of the following:
- Valid US passport
- Valid state-issued driver’s license
- Valid state, local or tribal ID
- Valid foreign passport
Company Applicant Information. Only required for companies created on or after January 1st 2024.
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Residential address
- Document number and image of any of the following:
- Valid US passport
- Valid state-issued driver’s license
- Valid state, local or tribal ID
- Valid foreign passport
As an alternative, beneficial owners and company applicants can provide the four pieces of information required to FinCEN directly and the individuals can obtain a “FinCEN identifier.” The FinCEN identifier can then be provided on a BOI report in lieu of the required information about the individual.
What If There Are Changes, Corrections or Updates to the Information?
File your Corrected BOI report no later than 30 days after the date your company became aware of the inaccuracy or had reason to know of it. This includes any inaccuracy in the required information provided about your company, its beneficial owners, or its company applicants.
File your updated BOI report no later than 30 days after the date of a change. This includes changes to the company’s information or its beneficial owners.
What Happens If I Do Not File BOI Report?
Both individuals and business entities may be legally liable for willfully failing to file BOI report, failing to file a complete or accurate BOI report, or failing to file an updated or corrected BOI report when due. Individuals who cause the Boi report failure or are senior officers at the company at the time of the willful failure can be held liable.
Failure to file the BOI report can result in significant fines and criminal convictions. Civil fines can be assessed at up to $500 per day per violation. Criminal penalties, if convicted, can consist of a fine of up to $10,000 and/or up to two (2) years in federal prison.
Let's get started
FILE BOI REPORT
Gather up your paperwork and documents and make sure everything is in order. We can help!