BOI Report for LLC

As of January 2024, most new and existing business owners are required to submit a Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Report to stay compliant with the federal government under the Corporate Transparency Act.

This rule mandates that limited liability companies (LLCs) and other eligible “reporting companies” submit a report containing specific information regarding the ownership and control of each business.

Since failure to file on time could result in hefty fines and even jail time, this guide covers what the BOI report is, whether your LLC must file one, and how you can go about submitting your report.

What Is a BOI Report?

A Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report is a legal document that your LLC must submit to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in order to comply with federal regulations. It’s used to disclose the identities of your business’s beneficial owners, essentially revealing who owns and/or controls the company. 

BOI reporting was initially introduced in law in 2021 through the Corporate Transparency Act in order to counter a number of illegal activities, such as money laundering, serious tax fraud, and securities and financial fraud.

Its purpose is to make it harder for businesses to engage in the aforementioned illegal activities by revealing the identities of all individuals who own, control, or benefit from US-based companies. 

Haven’t formed your LLC yet? We recommend checking out our in-depth How to Start an LLC guide for a step-by-step breakdown of everything you need to know to register your business.

Do I Need a BOI Report for My LLC?

Businesses that are required to report beneficial ownership information are known as “reporting companies,” which refers to domestic and foreign businesses created or registered in the United States by filing a document with a Secretary of State (or an equivalent office).

While this will include the majority of LLCs, there are certain exceptions to this general rule. FinCEN outlines 23 types of businesses that are exempt from BOI reporting requirements, including:

Since most LLCs are automatically classified as “reporting companies,” your LLC will generally need to submit a BOI report unless it fits into one of the specific exemptions outlined above. 

Note: To help you understand whether your LLC is exempt from the beneficial ownership information reporting requirement, a complete list of the criteria that apply to each of these exemptions can be found in FinCEN’s Small Entity Compliance Guide.

How to File a BOI Report

After establishing that your LLC needs to file a BOI report, there are three key steps you’ll need to complete:

1. Prepare Your Information

You can use FinCEN’s BOI E-Filing System in order to submit your report, which can be completed offline by uploading a PDF or electronically using the online application provided. You can also take advantage of a number of third-party service providers that FinCEN allows to automate this filing process on your behalf.

Before you start filling out your BOI report, be sure to make sure all your information is up-to-date. If there’s a mistake on this report or your LLC’s information changes, you’ll have 30 days after the date you became aware of this change/error to correct it. Failing to do so can incur hefty fines of up to $500 for each day this carries on, as well as up to two years in prison.

Note: If you’re not able to submit your BOI report electronically, you’ll need to contact FinCEN directly for more information on how to proceed.

2. Choose Your Type of Filing

The next step involved in submitting your BOI report is to determine the type of filing that’s applicable to your LLC’s situation. You’ll be presented with four options:

• Initial report: This option is for reporting companies that are submitting a BOI report for the first time.
• Correct prior report: Any reporting companies that have included inaccurate information on an earlier BOI report will need to select this option in order to correct this information.
• Update prior report: This option is for reporting companies that need to update the information contained in a previous report that has changed (e.g., if there are any new beneficial owners, etc.).
• Newly exempt entity: Any reporting companies that became exempt after submitting a BOI report will need to use this option.

Selecting the correct filing type is essential to ensure that your BOI report is both accurate and compliant. With this step complete, you’ll be ready to move onto actually filling out the form with the relevant information.

3. Fill Out Your BOI Report

The BOI report is made up of three main parts that you will be required to fill out. We’ve broken these down below: 

Part 1: Reporting Company Information

This section will include info such as your LLC’s legal name (and DBA name if it has one), business address, and Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). Foreign reporting companies without a TIN must provide an equivalent number from the relevant tax jurisdiction in their country.

Part 2: Company Applicant Information

Company applicants are the individuals who filed the document to register an LLC. If this involved more than one person, the individual primarily responsible for controlling the filing would be the company applicant. In this section, your LLC will need to include the name, date of birth, residential address, and an acceptable form of ID for this individual.

Part 3: Beneficial Owner Information

These are individuals who either exercise substantial control or own at least 25% of a reporting company’s ownership interests – with the exception of minors, nominees, non-senior employees, and future inheritors. In this final section, you’ll need to provide the names, dates of birth, residential addresses, and an acceptable ID for each of these individuals.

Note: Reporting companies created before January 1, 2024, will not be required to provide company applicant information, though will need to indicate they were an existing business as of this date using the checkbox in Part II of the report.

4. Submit Your BOI Report

After completing this report in its entirety, you’ll need to submit it to FinCEN by including your email and first and last names and confirming you are authorized to file the BOI report on your LLC’s behalf. After pressing the “Submit BOIR” button, you’ll be taken to a page confirming the status of your report.

While there’s no fee for submitting your BOI report, it must be filed by the following deadlines depending on when your LLC was formed: 

• Existing LLCs: Can file their report any time between January 1, 2024, and January 1, 2025.
• New LLCs after January 2024: Must file their report within 90 days of receiving notice that their registration is effective.
• New LLCs after January 2025: Must file their report within 30 days of receiving notice that their registration is effective.

Note: While most reporting companies will have no problems submitting their BOI report to FinCEN on their own, many new business owners find consulting a professional service provider to be a great way of handling this quickly and without stress.

BOI Report for LLC FAQs