Business Owners: We Can Help You File Your Required Beneficial Ownership Information Report (BOIR)
by John M. Goralka
Sacramento, CA
What is the Corporate Transparency Act?
Effective January 1, 2024, the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) mandates that all domestic business entities (including corporations, LLCs, and LLPs) and foreign-registered businesses, unless exempt, must file a Beneficial Ownership Information Report (BOIR) with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The CTA aims to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and other illicit financial activities. Willful noncompliance can result in severe civil penalties of $591 per day and criminal penalties of up to $10,000 and two years of imprisonment.
The CTA also aims to enhance transparency and combat financial crimes by collecting and maintaining beneficial ownership information (BOI) of companies operating in the United States. Beneficial owners are individuals who, directly or indirectly, own or control at least 25% of a company or have substantial control over the company.
For companies existing or registered before January 1, 2024, an initial BOIR must be filed by January 1, 2025. Companies newly created or registered in 2024 have 90 days to file an initial BOIR after formation or registration. Companies newly created or registered in 2025 and thereafter will have 30 days to file an initial BOIR after formation or registration.
Reporting is not annual. Once an initial BOIR is submitted, it must be updated within 30 days of a change (e.g., change of address or beneficial owner information) or corrected within 30 days of knowing or having reason to know of an inaccuracy.
We encourage you to review the BOIR filing requirements and ensure timely compliance to avoid any penalties. To learn more about the CTA and BOIR filing obligations, please visit the FinCEN government website: https://www.fincen.gov/boi
How to Comply with the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)
To assist you with the new BOIR filing requirement, the Goralka Law Firm has teamed with FinCEN Compliance, a leading company in this field. FinCEN Compliance can guide you through this complex process and offers special concierge pricing for Goralka Law Firm clients.
To comply with the new BOIR filing requirement, please review the following three options available to you.
Option #1: Recommended by Goralka Law Firm - FinCEN Guidance Concierge Service
For expert professional assistance with the new BOIR filing requirement, we highly recommend using FinCEN Guidance. Chosen by our firm for their leadership in this field, FinCEN Guidance offers special concierge pricing for Goralka Law Firm clients. They have extensive expertise in BOI reporting and are approved by the Federal government to electronically file BOI reports.
For personalized help with preparing, saving, checking for errors and submitting your BOI report, please email FinCEN Guidance at [email protected] and a member of their team will assist you personally.
Option #2: Self Service - FinCEN Guidance Personal
If you prefer a do-it-yourself approach, without personalized support, and still want the ability to save your entries (which the Unassisted option doesn’t offer), you can securely complete, submit, and save a BOI report using FinCEN Guidance’s website platform. To start this process, visit: https://fincenguidance.app/a/goralka
Option #3: Unassisted - Federal Government Website
Alternatively, you can choose no assistance to file, update, or correct a Beneficial Ownership Information Report (BOIR) yourself using the Federal Government’s BOI Reporting E-filing System at https://boiefiling.fincen.gov/.
Please note that you cannot save any data on the government website for future reference or retrieval, so you will need to re-enter it each time. Additionally, you may need to review the government’s 50-page Small Entity Compliance Guide, which can be found here, and/or the FAQs available here when you choose this option.
Ready to Get Started?
Email FinCEN Guidance at [email protected] today to get started on the road to achieving compliance with the Corporate Transparency Act.
John Goralka is the lead attorney and founder of the Goralka Law Firm, P.C., and is an experienced Sacramento estate planning and tax planning lawyer.
For help in Sacramento with estate planning or tax planning, please contact our office.