New Fed Reporting rule for corporate transparency

[Crusty]

A bit wonky. But not as bad as I thought once you get the hang of it.

Pro tip if you have multiple entities create a fin cen id so when you get to the beneficial owner tab you just enter the id number.

PS. Accountants and lawyers want to charge hundreds for something that takes five minutes or less once you get the hang of it.

PPS. Also save and print a copy of the submission for any future issues.

You should definitely file this yourself if you can. Your accountants and lawyers need to charge you because they have liability on their advise which is now unclear based on the Alabama case this summer and now Texas.

[Wapow]

Our outside corporate lawyers just told me to skip it due to the stay. My take is there's a 0% chance Trump's Treasury Dept. is gonna enforce this either way. Probably the top thing to kill for DOGE.

[BmillsSkier]

The TX ruling takes it national and enjoins the CTA in its entirety; the AL case was strictly applicable to the plaintiffs in that case, the Small Business Association IIRC.

https://natlawreview.com/article/tex...de-enforcement

[gravitylover]

So we don't have to file?

[BmillsSkier]

My advice is, depending on the situation, it may be cheap insurance to go ahead and file now and see what shakes out after the end of the year. The injunction could be lifted and/or the incoming administration could choose not to enforce the CTA, hard to say what will happen given the temporary nature of the ruling/injunction.

[Yukonrider]

Just filed mine. Pretty easy, need a scan of some gov ID.

Bump for whoever hasn't done it yet

[gravitylover]

https://landline.media/beneficial-ow...federal-court/

[gravitylover]

I finally got it done this morning. It was kind of a pain in the ass. I got almost all the way through the online form on my Chromebook until the end where it wouldn't let me attach a pic of my DL so I had to close it and do it again on my phone where it worked fine.

[Rideski]

Game on, game off, game on.

On December 26, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit paused the enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), thus pausing the beneficial ownership reporting requirements for U.S. small business owners. This reverses the earlier decision from December 23, 2024, to reinstate the CTA and its reporting requirements. The CTA remains on hold for now while under review. We will keep you updated as further developments unfold.

[MontuckyFried]

Woot woot!

https://fincen.gov/boi

Alert: Alert [December 27, 2024]: Impact of Ongoing Litigation – Deadline Stay – Voluntary Submission Only

In light of a recent federal court order, reporting companies are not currently required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN and are not subject to liability if they fail to do so while the order remains in force. However, reporting companies may continue to voluntarily submit beneficial ownership information reports.

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) plays a vital role in protecting the U.S. and international financial systems, as well as people across the country, from illicit finance threats like terrorist financing, drug trafficking, and money laundering. The CTA levels the playing field for tens of millions of law-abiding small businesses across the United States and makes it harder for bad actors to exploit loopholes in order to gain an unfair advantage.

On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, in the case of Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc., et al. v. Garland, et al., No. 4:24-cv-00478 (E.D. Tex.), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, issued an order granting a nationwide preliminary injunction. Texas Top Cop Shop is only one of several cases that have challenged the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) pending before courts around the country. Several district courts have denied requests to enjoin the CTA, ruling in favor of the Department of the Treasury. The government continues to believe—consistent with the conclusions of the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Virginia and the District of Oregon—that the CTA is constitutional. For that reason, the Department of Justice, on behalf of the Department of the Treasury, filed a Notice of Appeal on December 5, 2024 and separately sought of stay of the injunction pending that appeal.

On December 23, 2024, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a stay of the district court’s preliminary injunction entered in the case of Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland, pending the outcome of the Department of the Treasury’s ongoing appeal of the district court’s order. FinCEN immediately issued an alert notifying the public of this ruling, and recognizing that reporting companies may have needed additional time to comply with beneficial ownership reporting requirements, FinCEN extended reporting deadlines. On December 26, 2024, however, a different panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order vacating the Court’s December 23, 2024 order granting a stay of the preliminary injunction. Accordingly, as of December 26, 2024, the injunction issued by the district court in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland is in effect and reporting companies are not currently required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN.

I COMPLETELY spaced on this whole stupid thing. Wasn't stoked about hitting the deadline since I'm out of town and having to deal with it. Went to the website and saw the notice up top! Also got an email from my CPA's office saying it's basically voluntary for now. Phew! [I'm not missing something, am I?]

[Rideski]

They had already extended the deadline to Jan 11 because of the court cases. If they end up requireing I'll just do it but not volunteering if not.

[MontuckyFried]

If they end up requireing I'll just do it but not volunteering if not.

Same. Not seeing any real upside to volunteering. Seems a complete waste of time if it's not mandatory.

[The SnowShow]

Glad I didn’t bother. I guess we’ll see?

[gravitylover]

For something that takes 15 minutes y'all are making a big deal out of nothing. It's not like you're giving up info the govt doesn't already have, just making it easier for a particular dept to solve issues more quickly. Just fukn do it and stop whining.

[esseff]

Conspiracy theorists and all, I agree. They already have more info (on you and your entity) that you provide.....one less reason to raise a possible red flag.

For something that takes 15 minutes y'all are making a big deal out of nothing. It's not like you're giving up info the govt doesn't already have, just making it easier for a particular dept to solve issues more quickly. Just fukn do it and stop whining.

[Bunion 2020]

For something that takes 15 minutes y'all are making a big deal out of nothing. It's not like you're giving up info the govt doesn't already have, just making it easier for a particular dept to solve issues more quickly. Just fukn do it and stop whining.

I have better things to do with my 15 minutes than give the Feds information that they already have.

[anotherVTskibum]

I have better things to do with my 15 minutes than give the Feds information that they already have.

Don't you run a business?

You're already spending more time than that giving them information they already have on a regular basis.

And yes, I also find it exceptionally annoying, particularly when I get fined for falling to report to department B what I already reported to A and C.

[Bunion 2020]

Yes, I do. Hence my observation.

[Woolly the Mammoth]

Thoughts on whether I have to report since I'm on my HOA board? Seems ridiculous but I'm being told that I do (if its upheld).

[MontuckyFried]

I have better things to do with my 15 minutes than give the Feds information that they already have.

Exactly! I'm not even being conspiratorial here. They literally have all this info so clearly we're not hiding anything. It's simply a bureaucratic waste of our time as far as I'm concerned.

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[livefreerdie]

Thoughts on whether I have to report since I'm on my HOA board?

I put nothing in writing and do nothing. If they're at the point of enforcement reaching HOAs, they better have cleaned up all for-profit money laundering.

[Rideski]

Trump administration scraps mandate for most businesses, vows new rule

Millions of small businesses were facing a March 21 deadline to report Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI), such as names and addresses of owners, as part of the Corporate Transparency Act passed by Congress in 2021 or face potential fines. The requirement, which was supposed to kick in Jan. 1, has been subject to a see-sawing set of court battles and decisions that have created a shifting set of guidelines and deadlines.

On March 2, the Treasury Department announced it would not enforce the upcoming deadline for any American-based small business, and will not enforce any penalties or fines for businesses that did not report that information. Instead, the Treasury Department will go back to the rule-making process, to "narrow the scope of the rule" to apply to foreign companies only.

The National Federation of Independent Business, which opposed the requirement, said in a statement it will continue to work to repeal the underlying law and that it would create a “vast new government database on Americans.”

Supporters of the law have said the information would be used by the Treasury Department and law enforcement to combat money laundering.

Small-business owners should now expect an interim rule that would, once again, extend the reporting deadlines as part of the process to craft new guidance. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which has overseen the implementation of the law, said it would also solicit public comment on potential revisions this year.

"FinCEN will consider those comments as part of a notice of proposed rulemaking anticipated to be issued later this year to minimize burden on small businesses while ensuring that BOI is highly useful to important national security, intelligence and law-enforcement activities, as well to determine what, if any, modifications to the deadlines referenced here should be considered," the agency said in a notice.

Timeline of the legal battle
The rule, long opposed by small-business groups, had been caught in legal limbo for months after the National Small Business Association and others challenged the law in court.

A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in early December issued a nationwide injunction to stay the original Jan. 1 deadline for businesses to report ownership information. A subsequent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned that injunction, which restored the requirement. Soon after, a separate panel of judges on the Fifth Circuit overturned the decision that lifted the injunction — which, once again, halted implementation of the rule.

The Supreme Court ultimately lifted the temporary injunction in Texas Top Cop Shop Inc. v. McHenry, but FinCEN said at the time the temporary injunction in the case Smith v. U.S. Department of the Treasury was preventing it from going forward with the rule. A judge later lifted that injunction as well, freeing up the agency to implement the rule.

What is the Corporate Transparency Act?
The Corporate Transparency Act is part of a larger effort by FinCEN to crack down on money laundering and other financial crimes.

It had required businesses with fewer than 20 employees to provide names, dates of birth, addresses and other identifying information about its owners. It applied to businesses with fewer than 20 employees founded or registered to do business in the United States.

Exemptions to the rule extended to larger operating companies with 20 or more full-time employees, more than $5 million in revenue and a physical operating presence in the United States, along with companies that report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, banks, registered broker-dealers, insurance companies and other businesses that already report ownership information to the government. It was not an annual requirement as business owners were only required to update their information if there was a change.

Unlike workplace regulations under former President Joe Biden that flowed from agency rule-making authority — efforts that have since been struck down in court — the reporting requirements are part of a law passed by Congress on a bipartisan basis in 2021. It has since become a focal point of opposition among some small-business groups.

A survey by information-services company Wolters Kluwer last year found 54% of businesses were awaiting the outcome of the injunction before deciding to file their report; 57% said they were prepared to file.

[Harry]

Boom times for money launderers.


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[yeahman]

Seems unnecessary to me. The criminals will find a way around it, and the the legitimate businesses will be left with one more piece of red tape to deal with.

[irul&ublo]

It was no big deal


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