BACKGROUND
The federal Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) went into effect on January 1, 2024, and is intended to prevent certain financially-related illicit activities, such as money laundering and tax fraud. Under the CTA, companies that qualify as “reporting companies” are required to report certain information about their “beneficial owners” (referred to as beneficial ownership information, or BOI for short) to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury. It is estimated that over 32 million companies will be required to file a BOI report by the end of this year.
FRAUD ALERT
The high volume of businesses subject to the CTA has, unsurprisingly, attracted bad actors interested in capitalizing on business owners’ unfamiliarity with the reporting requirements. These bad actors have developed numerous scams to take advantage of business owners, including sending the business owners blank forms (via mail and email) attached to instructions directing them to fill out the form and submit it along with a filing fee. It is important to note that there is NO fee to file a BOI report directly with FinCEN. Instructions like those described above are designed to gather information and fees from business owners who are unaware of this fact. For more information about CTA-related scams, see the alert recently issued by FinCEN at https://fincen.gov/boi.
Attorneys at Dvorak Law Group are closely monitoring guidance from FinCEN regarding the CTA, including guidance about CTA-related scams, and are ready to advise you on the latest developments and how your company may be impacted. If you would like assistance in reviewing whether you need to file a BOI report, the attorneys at Dvorak Law Group are prepared to assist you in reviewing the reporting requirements and in completing and filing a BOI report.
Seth Moen
Office: 402.933.3079
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