Beginning January 1, 2024, most small business owners—e.g., corporations, limited partnerships, limited liability companies (LLCs), and business trusts—must report the beneficial owners to FinCEN to include their names, date of birth, address, and a unique identifier number from a recognized issuing jurisdiction (e.g., Passport or Driver’s License), with a photo of that document. Failure to timely comply, timely update, and/or NOT provide the correct information, will result in fines, per violation, of $500 to $10,000 and imprisonment for up to two years. By the time you are notified by FinCEN of your noncompliance, the aggregated penalties may be significantly higher.
For businesses and LLCs incorporated and formed BEFORE January 1, 2024, we have until January 1, 2025, to report the beneficial owners to FinCEN. HOWEVER, for businesses formed on January 1, 2024, and thereafter, you must report within 30-days. Therefore, DO NOT incorporate or form any LLC in 2024 until we understand the ramifications of this unconstitutional law.
Because of the AICPA, “Two bills have been introduced in the U.S. Congress to delay this rule—H.R. 4035 and S. 2623, both titled the Protecting Small Business Information Act of 2023. These identical bills . . . would delay the start date of the rule providing additional time for small businesses to learn about and better understand their new reporting requirements.” However, these bills may not get brought up, and hopefully passed, until sometime between March and June of 2024. That’s why you should wait to incorporate or form an LLC until after we know what is going to happen with these two bills.
Unfortunately, both the accountants (CPAs) and the lawyers could care less about whether these new reporting requirements are constitutional; they are merely trying to delay, giving them more time to put systems in place, to make more money from their business and estate planning clients!
In 2016, I explained why the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, strengthened by the USA Patriot Act of 2001, is unconstitutional. The same arguments apply to the BOI Reporting Requirements. Get a copy of my book from Amazon and pass it along. Amazon.com: Our Right to Privacy-Hijacked by Government: The U.S. Government Consistently Violates "the supreme law of the land," the Constitution of the United ... of America Revised and Updated Second Edition: 9781483446165: Beard, Jr., Robert G.: Books.
If enough people understand the fraud perpetrated upon the public, Congress or the Courts may be forced to do the right thing, i.e., respect our 4th and 5th Amendment rights.
Dum Spiro Spero—While I breathe, I hope.
Slainte mhath,
Robert (Mike) G. Beard Jr., C.P.A., C.G.M.A., J.D., LL.M.