Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting

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.

As further explained in the Notices, to qualify, a reporting company must have a BOI reporting deadline falling within the period beginning one day before the date the specified disaster began - as indicated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) – and ending 90 days after that date. (Where multiple disasters with different starting dates are related to the same storm, FinCEN used the earliest of these dates.) A reporting company also must be located in an area that is designated both by FEMA as qualifying for individual or public assistance and by the Internal Revenue Service as eligible for tax filing relief. Please refer to the applicable Notice for specific information.

• NOTICE: FinCEN Provides BOI Reporting Relief to Victims of Hurricane Beryl
• NOTICE: FinCEN Provides BOI Reporting Relief to Victims of Hurricane Debby
• NOTICE: FinCEN Provides BOI Reporting Relief to Victims of Hurricane Francine
• NOTICE: FinCEN Provides BOI Reporting Relief to Victims of Hurricane Helene
• NOTICE: FinCEN Provides BOI Reporting Relief to Victims of Hurricane Milton

These fraudulent scams may include:

• Correspondence that references a “Form 4022” or “Form 5102” is fraudulent. FinCEN does not have a “Form 4022” or a “Form 5102.” Do not send BOI to anyone by completing these forms.
• Correspondence or other documents referencing a “US Business Regulations Dept.” This correspondence is fraudulent; there is no government entity by this name.

Please be on the lookout for anything that may indicate correspondence you receive is fraudulent. For example, be cautious of any of the following:

• Correspondence requesting payment. There is NO fee to file BOI directly with FinCEN. FinCEN does NOT send correspondence requesting payment to file BOI. Do not send money in response to any mailing regarding filing your beneficial ownership information report that claims to be from FinCEN or another government agency.
• Correspondence that asks the recipient to click on a suspicious URL or to scan a suspicious QR code. Those e-mails or letters could be fraudulent. Do not click any suspicious links or attachments or scan any suspicious QR codes.
• Correspondence regarding penalties. FinCEN does NOT send initial correspondence regarding CTA penalties via e-mail or over the phone. Do not submit payments via phone, mail, or websites as requests/directions to do so are fraudulent.

Please be advised that the following statement that previously appeared at https://boir.org: “Boir.org (Beneficial Ownership Information Report) is an officially authorized service provider with the US Government or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)” was false.

Use caution when you receive correspondence from an unknown party. Verify the sender. Never give personal information, including regarding beneficial ownership to anyone unless you trust the other party.

FinCEN issued a public alert on December 18, 2024, to raise awareness of fraud schemes abusing FinCEN’s name, insignia, and authorities for financial gain—including scams that exploit beneficial ownership reporting. Learn more about these schemes and where to report them here.

Updated March 11, 2024

On March 1, 2024, in the case of National Small Business United v. Yellen, No. 5:22-cv-01448 (N.D. Ala.), a federal district court in the Northern District of Alabama, Northeastern Division, entered a final declaratory judgment, concluding that the Corporate Transparency Act exceeds the Constitution’s limits on Congress’s power and enjoining the Department of the Treasury and FinCEN from enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act against the plaintiffs. The Justice Department, on behalf of the Department of the Treasury, filed a Notice of Appeal on March 11, 2024.

FinCEN is complying with the court’s order and will continue to comply with the court’s order for as long as it remains in effect. As a result, the government is not currently enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act against the plaintiffs in that action: Isaac Winkles, reporting companies for which Isaac Winkles is the beneficial owner or applicant, the National Small Business Association, and members of the National Small Business Association (as of March 1, 2024). Those individuals and entities are not required to report beneficial ownership information to FinCEN at this time.

Update [March 11, 2024]: This notice was updated on March 11, 2024, to reflect that a Notice of Appeal has been filed regarding this case.