Fin Cen Florida

What is beneficial ownership information? 

Beneficial ownership information refers to identifying information about the individuals who directly or indirectly own or control a company.  [Issued March 24, 2023] 

Why do companies have to report beneficial ownership information to the U.S Department of the Treasury? 

In 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act on a bipartisan basis.  This law creates a new beneficial ownership information reporting requirement as part of the U.S. government’s efforts to make it harder for bad actors to hide or benefit from their ill-gotten gains through shell companies or other opaque ownership structures. [Issued September 18, 2023]

Under the Corporate Transparency Act, who can access 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 for authorized activities related to national security, intelligence, and law enforcement. Financial institutions will have access to beneficial ownership information in certain circumstances, with the consent of the reporting company. Those financial institutions’ regulators will also have access to beneficial ownership information when they supervise the financial institutions. FinCEN published the rule that will govern access to and protection of beneficial ownership information on December 22, 2023. Beneficial ownership information 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 in using the reported information only for authorized purposes and handling in a way that protects its security and confidentiality. (Updated: January 12, 2024)

Federal court holds Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional?

In a statement, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants said that small businesses should continue to file BOI reports. FinCEN has stated at this time Isaac Winkles the beneficial owner or applicant, the National Small Business Association, and members of the National Small Business Association entities are not required to report beneficial ownership information  (as of March 1, 2024).

Civil BOI penalties?

Companies who willfully provide false information (including a false or fraudulent identifying photograph or document) or neglect to report by the filing deadline can face a civil BOI penalties of up to $500 for each day that the violation continues or has not been remedied. In addition, they can be fined up to $10,000 and/or face up to 2 years of imprisonment.

When to report? 

Effective January 1, 2024, existing companies will have one year to file their initial reports identifying their beneficial owners: reports for these companies will be due on January 1, 2025. New companies that are created or registered after January 1, 2024 will have 30 days to report.