New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog
The Corporate Transparency Act came into being this year as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act. This act is designed to combat terrorism, tax fraud and money-laundering.
Under the act, corporations and LLC’s are required to report who their “beneficial owners” are in a Beneficial Ownership Information Report (BOI report) to the Financial Crimes Enforcement network (FinCEN) on an annual basis.
New York has its own version called the New York LLC Transparency Act that takes effect in 2026, however the New York version only applies to LLC’s. The BOI report is due by January 13, 2025 for entities formed before 2024 and within 90 days of formation or registration for entities formed in 2024. For entities formed after 2025, the BOI report is required to be filed within 30 days.
The BOI report must contain the following information:
- The entities’ full name (and any alternative names which it is doing business under)
- Address
- Where it was formed or registered
- Its tax id number (EIN)
The BOI report must include the following information for each “beneficial owner” — defined as any individual who has “substantial control” over the entity or owns or controls at least 25% of the ownership. “Substantial control” means serving as a senior officer, having authority to remove a senior officer or a majority of the board of directors, or in charge of or having substantial interest over major corporate decisions. The trustee of a trust may be a “beneficial owner” if the trust owns an interest in the entity and that interest meets the above criteria.
The “beneficial owner” must report:
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Home or business address
- Identifying number from passport or driver’s license along with scanned copy of the document
For privacy, one can report the information to FinCEN and get a FinCEN identifying number which can be used on the company’s report in lieu of the personal information. Federal law enforcement, security and tax agencies will have access to this information. State and local law enforcement agencies will require a court ordered subpoena to gain access.
For help in reporting, search fincen.gov, call the helpline 800-949-2732, or google “help with fincen reporting” for companies that assist with the application for a fee.