Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Reporting?

Is your Company required to report Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI), and if so, who who are its Beneficial Owners and which Beneficial Owners need to report BOI?

We wrote this free, anonymous expert system in an attempt to guide you.

You DO NOT have to submit your BOIR. Compliance is currently voluntary.

As of January 23rd, 2025, the US Supreme Court granted the government’s motion to stay a nationwide injunction issued by a federal judge in Texas (Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. McHenry—formerly, Texas Top Cop Shop v. Garland). As a separate nationwide order issued by a different federal judge in Texas (Smith v. U.S. Department of the Treasury) still remains in place, reporting companies are not currently required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN despite the Supreme Court’s action in Texas Top Cop Shop.

On December 23rd, 2024, FinCEN was no longer enjoined (i.e. restrained) from enforcing Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting (BOIR) under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The Fifth Circuit, United States Court of Appeals, has granted the US Government’s emergency motion to stay the lower court’s order to enjoin FinCEN from enforcing BOIR under the CTA. Text of the opinion can be found here.

On December 3rd, 2024, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, see Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland, E.D. Tex., No. 4:24-cv-00478, 12/3/24, issued an order enjoining (i.e. restraining) FinCEN from enforcing BOIR under the CTA. This order has been stayed by the Court of Appeals (5th Circuit), although the Appeals Court has yet to rule specifically on the merits of the Dist. Ct. case.

Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) refers to identifying information about a company, and the individuals who directly or indirectly own or control the company (called "Beneficial Owners").

For a company, this information includes the legal name, trade name (i.e. d/b/a), current street address of the principal place of business, state of registration, and a taxpayer identification number (i.e. EIN or FEIN).

For an individual, this information is personally identifying information (or PII), including the individual’s name, date of birth, residential address, and an acceptable form of ID (See next FAQ for a list of acceptable forms of ID). For the ID, you must provide the ID Number, the issuing state or jurisdiction, and a legible image of the ID.

The only acceptable forms of identification are:

  • A non-expired U.S. driver’s license (including any driver’s licenses issued by a commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States);
  • A non-expired identification document issued by a U.S. state or local government, or Indian Tribe;
  • A non-expired passport issued by the U.S. government; or
  • A non-expired passport issued by a foreign government (only when an individual does not have one of the other three forms of identification listed above).

As it relates to this expert system: This is an anonymous program, and does not save results (unless you accept our recommendations and choose to order services from us).

As it relates to FinCEN and your Beneficial Ownership Information: FinCEN will permit Federal, State, local, and Tribal officials, as well as certain foreign officials who submit a request through a U.S. Federal government agency, to obtain Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) for authorized activities related to national security, intelligence, and law enforcement. Financial institutions will also have access to BOI in certain circumstances, with the consent of the reporting company. Those financial institutions’ regulators will also have access to BOI when they supervise the financial institutions.

FinCEN is developing the rules that will govern access to and handling of BOI. BOI reported to FinCEN will be stored in a secure, non-public database using rigorous information security methods and controls typically used in the Federal government to protect non-classified yet sensitive information systems at the highest security level. FinCEN will work closely with those authorized to access beneficial ownership information to ensure that they understand their roles and responsibilities to ensure that the reported information is used only for authorized purposes and handled in a way that protects its security and confidentiality.

If you have further questions, consider a 30-minute BOI Attorney Consult.

When FinCEN is not banned by the courts from enforcing BOIR, the law says that new companies formed on or after January 1st, 2025, must report the Company's Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI), as well as the information of the applying entity, within 30-days of formation.

Again, when FinCEN is not banned by the courts from enforcing BOIR, all companies, including those formed prior to January 1st, 2024, must report the Company's Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) no later than a date to be announced (it was January 1st, 2025, then January 13th, 2025, after the first court action against FinCEN). We anticipate FinCEN to announce a new date, if and when it appeals the latest Texas court injunction.

Companies that were required to report between December 3rd, 2024, and December 23rd, 2024 (the "Enjoined Period"), did have until January 13th, 2025, to report BOIR although this date will change once FinCEN is no longer banned by the courts.. Finally, (if and when FinCEN is no longer banned by the courts from enforcing BOIR) all companies who are required to report (and their Beneficial Owners) must report any changes to their information within 90-days of the change, by filing an updated report. Failure to file on-time, or filing inaccurate or false information, carries considerable financial and criminal sanctions and penalties.

If you want more help, consider a 30-minute BOI Attorney Consult or use this FREE EXPERT SYSTEM to help you determine whether your Company must report its Beneficial Ownership Information to FinCEN and who is considered Beneficial Owner in your Company.

According to FinCEN:

"The willful failure to report complete or updated beneficial ownership information to FinCEN, or the willful provision of or attempt to provide false or fraudulent beneficial ownership information may result in a civil or criminal penalties, including civil penalties of up to $500 for each day that the violation continues, or criminal penalties including imprisonment for up to two years and/or a fine of up to $10,000. Senior officers of an entity that fails to file a required BOI report may be held accountable for that failure."

Furthermore, "a person may be subject to civil and/or criminal penalties for willfully causing a company not to file a required BOI report or to report incomplete or false beneficial ownership information to FinCEN."

In certain circumstances, inactive entities who would otherwise be required to report, are excused from reporting. The circumstances are fairly narrow, however. You must answer “YES” to all six of the following criteria to be deemed an inactive entity excused from reporting:

  • Entity has been in existence on or before January 1st, 2020
  • Entity has not engaged in active business
  • Entity is not owned (even partially) by a foreign person (defined as someone who is not a United States Person as defined in 7701(a)(30) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
  • Entity has not experienced any change in ownership in the preceding twelve (12) month period
  • Entity has not sent or received any funds greater than $1,000, in the preceding twelve (12) month period
  • Entity does not hold any kind or type of assets, in the US or abroad, including real property or an ownership interest in any other entity
If you want more help determining whether your company may be excluded from reporting, consider a 30-minute BOI Attorney Consult or use this expert system to help you determine whether your Company must file a Beneficial Ownership Information Report, and who is considered a Beneficial Owner in your Company.

We strive to keep this expert system up-to-date within 48 hours of any changes to the laws, statutes, rules and regulations pushed out by Congress and FinCEN.

This expert system was last updated on 2025-01-26.

Currently, this program is based on the BOI Small Entity Compliance Guide, Version 1.1, December 2023.

If you're aware of a new legal change that could impact the results of this program, please contact us if you think an update to this program is overdue. Alternatively, you can order a 30-minute BOI Attorney Consult to discuss the latest changes in the law and how that may impact the reporting requirements of your Company or its Beneficial Owners.


This AI Expert System is not intended to be a substitute for professional legal advice from an attorney! In fact, we strongly encourage you to hire an attorney to give you a formal opinion.

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