In an effort to crack down on financial crimes, Congress recently passed the Corporate Transparency Act requiring that the owners of certain types of corporate entities file a Beneficial Ownership Interest (BOI) report with the US Department of Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The reporting requirements, which become effective this month, are designed to strengthen the US financial system by making it harder for business owners to use shell companies to launder money or hide assets.
Among other things, the BOI report informs the US government of the identities of the “beneficial owners” (that's YOU!) of corporations and limited liability companies that are registered with the 50 United States and the District of Columbia. Barring an exemption (you are probably NOT exempt!), you must file a BOI report as the beneficial owner of a company that is registered in the US. Your BOI report discloses to the US government certain identifying information about you.
The BOI report must be filed within a certain number of days after a corporate entity has been officially created or registered in a particular state. Possible penalties for non-compliance include fines of up to $10,000 and/or 2 years imprisonment. (Crazy, but true.)
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This video from the US Department of Treasury provides a high level overview of the Corporate Transparency Act and the BOI reporting requirements, or watch this video for more publicly available information.
