Many friends and clients have contacted our offices seeking information about the new report called BOI, which must submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Currently, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, commonly known as FinCEN, has issued a final rule implementing the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) access provisions. This implies that under this rule, corporations must provide information on beneficiaries (Beneficial Ownership Information or BOI).

The CTA establishes that BOI is confidential and cannot be disclosed except as authorized. FinCEN is allowed to reveal BOI under specific circumstances to six categories of recipients:
1. U.S. federal agencies.
2. State and local law enforcement agencies.
3. Judges, prosecutors, central authorities, and foreign competent authorities.
4. Financial institutions use BOI to facilitate compliance with customer due diligence (CDD) requirements under applicable law.
5. Federal functional regulators and other appropriate regulatory agencies act as supervisors.
6. Officials and employees of the Treasury.

General Questions
1. What is information about beneficial ownership?
It refers to identifying information about individuals who directly or indirectly own or control a company.

2. Why do companies have to report information about beneficial ownership to the U.S. Department of the Treasury?
It hinders terrible actors from hiding or benefiting from their ill-gotten gains through shell companies or other ownership structures.

3. According to the Corporate Transparency Act, who can access information about beneficial ownership?
Federal, state, local, and tribal officials, financial entities, and certain foreign officials submit a request through a U.S. federal government agency with the consent of the reporting company.
FinCEN published the rule governing access and protection of beneficial ownership information on December 22, 2023. It will stored in a secure government database with information system protections. FinCEN will work closely with those authorized to access beneficial ownership information to ensure confidentiality.

4. How will companies become aware of the BOI reporting requirements?
FinCEN is engaged in a campaign to raise awareness and assist reporting companies in understanding the new reporting requirements, utilizing new communication channels and social networks. Visit the website www.fincen.gov/boi for more information.