WASHINGTON — Because of a Texas court ruling last week, beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) are back in effect, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) reports.
Tuesday’s decision to enable U.S. Department of the Treasury enforcement again came in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, in the case of Smith, et. al. v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, et al.
However, the Treasury Department recognizes that reporting companies may need additional time to comply with their BOI reporting obligations, so FinCEN is generally extending the deadline 30 calendar days from Feb. 19 for most companies.
For the vast majority of reporting companies, March 21 is the new deadline to file an initial, updated and/or corrected BOI report. FinCEN will provide an update before then should the deadline be further modified.
“Notably, in keeping with Treasury’s commitment to reducing regulatory burden on businesses, during this 30-day period, FinCEN will assess its options to further modify deadlines, while prioritizing reporting for those entities that pose the most significant national security risks,” FinCEN says in a notice posted on its website.
Reporting companies that were previously given a reporting deadline later than March 21 must file their initial BOI report by the later deadline.
Reports may be filed free using FinCEN’s E-Filing system available at https://boiefiling.fincen.gov.
FinCEN also intends to initiate a process this year to revise the BOI reporting rule to reduce burden for lower-risk entities, including many U.S. small businesses.
For more information, visit the FinCEN BOI webpage (fincen.gov/boi).
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].
