FinCEN releases BOI toolkit for small biz

The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has created an online toolkit to help small business owners comply with the new beneficial ownership information reporting requirements.

The new FinCEN BOI resource aims to familiarize small business owners with beneficial ownership reporting requirements. The new reporting requirements are mandated by the Corporate Transparency Act, a bipartisan law that aims to deter illicit finance activities such as money laundering by supporting law enforcement efforts. The law requires many small businesses to report basic information to the federal government about the actual people who ultimately own or control them.

The toolkit provides templates and sample content structured to allow private, public and nonprofit organizations to share and amplify this information. The toolkit includes general background on the reporting requirements, along with templates for newsletters, websites, and emails; sample social media posts and images; and information on how to contact FinCEN.

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The toolkit is the latest in a series of outreach efforts by FinCEN to inform small businesses of the reporting requirements. FinCEN has previously issued guidance, frequently asked questions, videos and other materials to make compliance as easy as possible. It recently issued guidance for short-lived entities and foreign companies. In addition, senior Treasury and FinCEN officials are continuing to meet with small business owners and other key stakeholders nationwide to help small businesses fulfill their reporting requirements.

FinCEN began accepting the beneficial ownership information reports in January. Filing a BOI report is not an annual requirement, unless a company needs to update or correct information, so in general it only needs to file once. FinCEN said it's quick, secure, and free of charge, and anticipates that most companies will be able to file without the help of an attorney or accountant, and that the filing process for those with simple ownership structures may take 20 minutes or less. Companies that existed before 2024 have until Jan. 1, 2025 to file, while companies created or registered in 2024 need to file within 90 days of receiving a creation or registration notice. More information, along with FinCEN's E-Filing System, is available at https://www.fincen.gov/boi.