Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI): What it Is, How to File, + Reporting Requirements
You may have heard from your tax advisor or elsewhere that a requirement appeared in 2024 to register every LLC or Corporation (one owner or more) by submitting your "Beneficial Ownership Information" (BOI) annually with the federal government. To make it sound as imposing as possible, you'll be working with the FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network).
This may seem daunting or intimidating at first (their website may make you feel like you're about to get arrested by the FBI) but the good news is, it's fairly straightforward. There is no fee. And it's really designed to help us all out by making sure money laundering, shell companies and the like aren't afoot. (Hurrah for corporate transparency!)
So! Let's walk through some basic steps to get this task done.
How to File Your Beneficial Ownership Information
- Determine whether you must file. Basically, if you are cruising HAR's website, you're probably a travel advisor, host agency, consortium or something similar, which means you will need to submit this form. The law applies to: 1) domestic corporations, LLCs, and other entities created by filing with a state (that's you, sole proprietors that registered with your state) and 2) foreign entities that register to do business in the U.S. Note: Some entities are exempt, but these don't usually apply to the travel agencies (e.g. public utilities, some financial entities, tax-exempt entities).
- Gather your information. Here's a list of all the things that you will need:
- Name, birthdate, address, and ID number/image for each beneficial owner. (Beneficial owners are those with >25% ownership or substantial control)
- For entities created after 1/1/2024, you'll need the above info also for "company applicants."
- Follow this link to the BOI online form to e-file.
- Set yourself a deadline. How do you know when it's due? Well, if you started your business before 1/1/2024, your report is due 1/1/2025, one year later. If you started your business after 1/1/24, you have 90 days from the date of formation. After 1/1/2025, the timeline becomes even stricter, and your initial report will be due only 30 days after formation. If you need to make changes, they will give you 30 days to file an updated report. Inaccuracies will automatically trigger a corrected report.
- Schedule It. Finally, you'll be doing this every year, so go ahead and do yourself a favor by making this a recurring event in your calendar!