Beware of Scams Around Beneficial Owner Reporting

The Corporate Transparency Act requires many business entities to report information about their beneficial owners in a brand-new government database. Search our tax news archive for “beneficial owner” to see our numerous earlier posts on this topic.

Some practitioners and clients have been contacted by scammers who have tried to obtain sensitive information by mentioning this new requirement. Practitioners and clients should be aware that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) will not contact companies to request information, nor will other governmental agencies. Rather, the filing required must be done on FinCEN’s website at https://boiefiling.fincen.gov/boir/html.

Aa a reminder, now that summer is here, practitioners who are offering the service of assisting clients in meeting this new filing requirement should make sure that they are gathering the required information needed for the filing.

Practitioners who have decided not to offer such services must still make sure that their affected clients are aware of this new requirement and have time to meet it using other means or providers. Substantial penalties (both civil and criminal) can apply to those who do not comply with the requirements of this law.

Registration reports for entities that existed prior to January 1, 2024, are due by January 1, 2025. For entities that were created on or after January 1, 2024, the due date is much sooner, as discussed in our post on December 5, 2023.

The Tax Year 2023 M+O=CPE Individual Tax Year-End Workshop Reference Book has a detailed discussion of the registration requirement on pages 60 to 67.