Last night, FinCEN issued a press release which made Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting voluntary (for now).
Today, FinCEN announced that it will not issue any fines or penalties or take any other enforcement actions against any companies based on any failure to file or update beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act by the current deadlines. No fines or penalties will be issued, and no enforcement actions will be taken, until a forthcoming interim final rule becomes effective and the new relevant due dates in the interim final rule have passed. This announcement continues Treasury’s commitment to reducing regulatory burden on businesses, as well as prioritizing under the Corporate Transparency Act reporting of BOI for those entities that pose the most significant law enforcement and national security risks.
No later than March 21, 2025, FinCEN intends to issue an interim final rule that extends BOI reporting deadlines, recognizing the need to provide new guidance and clarity as quickly as possible, while ensuring that BOI that is highly useful to important national security, intelligence, and law enforcement activities is reported.
I anticipate an income and/or asset threshold above which BOI reporting will be mandatory (and below which it will be voluntary). I also would not be surprised if entities with majority foreign ownership will be required to file BOI reports. Almost certainly, most small businesses will likely be exempt from BOI filing.
I’ll update this in March when the new rules come out.