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WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued another resource to familiarize small business owners with beneficial ownership reporting requirements. These reporting requirements are mandated by the Corporate Transparency Act, a bipartisan law enacted to curb illicit finance by supporting law enforcement efforts. This law requires many small businesses to report basic information to the Federal government about the real people who ultimately own or control them.
The toolkit contains templates and sample content that has been structured to allow private, public, and non-profit organizations to share and amplify this important information. The toolkit includes general background on the reporting requirements, as well as templates for newsletters, websites, and emails; sample social media posts and images; and information on how to contact FinCEN.
The toolkit furthers FinCEN’s outreach efforts to inform small businesses of the reporting requirements. To date, FinCEN has issued guidance, FAQs, videos, and other materials to make compliance as easy as possible. In addition, senior FinCEN officials continue to meet with small business owners and other key stakeholders nationwide to help small businesses fulfill their reporting requirements.
Filing is quick, secure, and free of charge. It is not an annual requirement—unless a company needs to update or correct information, it only needs to file once. FinCEN expects 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 January 1, 2025 to file, while companies created or registered in 2024 must file within 90 days of receiving creation/registration notice. More information, along with FinCEN’s E-Filing System, is available at https://www.fincen.gov/boi.
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