Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting

Today, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced that, consistent with the Department of the Treasury’s March 2, 2025, announcement, it is issuing an interim final rule that removes the requirement for U.S. companies and U.S. persons to report beneficial ownership information (BOI) to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act.

In that interim final rule, FinCEN revises the regulatory definition of “reporting company” to mean only those entities that are formed under the law of a foreign country and that have registered to do business in any U.S. State or Tribal jurisdiction by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or similar office (formerly known as “foreign reporting companies”). FinCEN also exempts entities previously known as “domestic reporting companies” from BOI reporting requirements. Thus, through this interim final rule, all entities created in the United States — including those previously known as “domestic reporting companies” — and their beneficial owners will be exempt from the requirement to report BOI to FinCEN.

However, foreign entities that meet the new definition of a “reporting company” and do not qualify for an exemption from the reporting requirements must report their BOI to FinCEN under new deadlines. These foreign entities will not be required to report any U.S. persons as beneficial owners, and U.S. persons will not be required to report BOI with respect to any such entity for which they are a beneficial owner.

Upon the publication of the interim final rule, the following deadlines apply for foreign entities that are reporting companies:

• Reporting companies registered to do business in the United States before the date of publication of the interim final rule must file BOI reports no later than 30 days from that date.
• Reporting companies registered to do business in the United States on or after the date of publication of the interim final rule have 30 calendar days to file an initial BOI report after receiving notice that their registration is effective.

In accord with its prior notices and the Department of the Treasury’s March 2, 2025, announcement, FinCEN is applying all exemptions and deadline extensions in the interim final rule as of today, in advance of formal publication in the Federal Register, and will further not enforce any beneficial ownership reporting penalties or fines against U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies or their beneficial owners.

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

All entities created in the United States — including those previously known as “domestic reporting companies” — and their beneficial owners are now exempt from the requirement to report beneficial ownership information (BOI) to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).

FinCEN published an interim final rule on March 26, 2025, that revised the definition of “reporting company” in its regulations implementing the CTA to mean only those entities formed under the law of a foreign country that have registered to do business in any U.S. State or tribal jurisdiction by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or similar office (formerly known as “foreign reporting companies”). FinCEN also formally exempted entities previously known as “domestic reporting companies” from the CTA’s reporting requirements.

Reporting companies now also do not need to report the BOI of any U.S. persons, and U.S. persons are exempt from having to provide BOI with respect to any reporting company for which they are a beneficial owner.

Foreign entities that meet the new definition of a “reporting company” and do not qualify for an exemption from the reporting requirements are required to file with FinCEN under new deadlines:

• Reporting companies registered to do business in the United States before March 26, 2025, must file BOI reports by April 25, 2025.
• Reporting companies registered to do business in the United States on or after March 26, 2025, have 30 calendar days to file an initial BOI report after receiving notice that their registration is effective.

The guidance issued below has not yet been fully updated to account for this new interim final rule. Thus, any guidance here indicating that U.S companies, or their beneficial owners, must report BOI to FinCEN; that BOI must be reported for U.S. persons; or that reporting companies must report BOI before April 25, 2025, should be disregarded.

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.

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.

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 Department of Justice, 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.