BOI Changes Could Be Coming

The government has filed a motion to remove the injunction against enforcement of Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) issued by the other U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas in the Smith case. If the stay is granted, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) will extend beneficial ownership information (BOI) filing deadlines for 30 days. FinCEN also said it will consider changes to the BOI reporting requirements but has not yet indicated what those changes would be. 

Jan. 23 update courtesy of Ed Zollars, CPA:

The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed the decision of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Merits Panel and again removed the injunction issued by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against enforcement of the beneficial ownership reports under the Corporate Transparency Act (McHenry v. Texas Top Cop Shop (originally Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland), Application for Stay, U.S. Supreme Court, January 23, 2025). As of the time this is being written, FinCEN has not yet posted information about the new due date for reports originally due while the enforcement was on hold.

The following alert was issued by FinCEN on Jan. 24, 2025:

In light of a recent federal court order, reporting companies are not currently required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN and are not subject to liability if they fail to do so while the order remains in force. However, reporting companies may continue to voluntarily submit beneficial ownership information reports.

On January 23, 2025, the Supreme Court granted the government’s motion to stay a nationwide injunction issued by a federal judge in Texas (Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. McHenry—formerly, Texas Top Cop Shop v. Garland). As a separate nationwide order issued by a different federal judge in Texas (Smith v. U.S. Department of the Treasury) still remains in place, reporting companies are not currently required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN despite the Supreme Court’s action in Texas Top Cop Shop. Reporting companies also are not subject to liability if they fail to file this information while the Smith order remains in force. However, reporting companies may continue to voluntarily submit beneficial ownership information reports.

• You can learn more about the BOI filing requirement and e-file BOI reports here.
• FincenFetch, a BOI filing solution, has provided a free email template for client communications.