There are two sections to this blog post alert:

• An update about complying with Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting
• Scams and frauds associated with BOI reporting

I. Compliance Update - Beneficial Ownership Reporting (BOI)

Earlier this year, I held a workshop detailing the requirements for the BOI reports.

• See here for the full workshop replay
• Or check out this handout for a quick overview
• Step-by-Step Walk-Through of obtaining FinCEN ID and filing a BOI Report

In March, some lawsuits worked their way through the court system and some thought this reporting requirement may be deemed unconstitutional.

Those initial lawsuits are now settled, and the government says the only people exempted from complying as a result are those who were members of the National Small Business Association (NSBA) prior to March 1, 2024.

What Should You Do Now?

If you have not been an NSBA member since then, you still need to file a BOI report for all of your entities.

• If you have formed a new business entity this year, you should file a BOI report within 90 days of its formation.
• For business entities in existence before 1/1/2024, the due date for the BOI report is 12/31/2024. I recommend filing it any time now, well before the deadline.

How can ProWise Financial Consulting help you with the BOI report?
I cannot simply file the report on your behalf. Much has been made in the professional world about whether this is simply filing a report vs. an unauthorized practice of law.

What I can do is help guide you through the process, answer as many questions as I can, and even walk you through it on one of our upcoming calls.

If you want me to walk through it with you, just come to the call with the following information for each beneficial owner of every entity you need to report:

• Full legal name
• Date of birth
• Complete current residential street address
• A unique identifying number from either a current U.S. passport, state or local ID document, driver’s license, or, if the individual has none of those, a foreign passport
• An image of the document from which the unique identifying number was obtained
• OR Have each owner obtain a FinCEN ID (preferred)

I am also tracking compliance with my client list for the rest of the year. If you have already filed your BOI report, or if you get it done without my help, please respond and let me know you have met the requirement.

II. Scam Alert

We all knew this would happen. Some fraudsters with nothing better to do are sending out mailers, emails, or other communications saying they can file the BOI on your behalf.

The communications look official (see this example from a colleague of mine).

This letter is NOT from the Federal government. Read the very, very tiny 6-point type at the bottom. The company gathers secure, confidential data and supposedly files the form, but makes no mention of the safety of the confidential data or their fees. More and more of these are appearing daily, so be on the lookout. A lot of companies are looking to obtain and sell your confidential data.

Most importantly, remember this:

• The report is only filed online in the new FinCEN BOSS database.
• There is no filing fee.
• For single-member LLCs, the process is very simple. I did my own for two LLCs in less than 20 minutes.