FinCEN Extends Deadlines for Beneficial Ownership Information Reports

Many small businesses now have more time to file beneficial ownership information with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The deadlines vary depending on when the reporting business was created or registered, but those for some categories have been extended by about two or three weeks, according to an alert about updates to beneficial ownership information reporting deadlines on the FinCEN website.

These updates were made after the latest development in a legal battle over these reporting requirements — a Monday (Dec. 23) federal court of appeals decision that reinstated the reporting requirement after a Dec. 3 decision by another court imposed a preliminary injunction, per the alert.

The agency said in the alert that “the Department of the Treasury recognizes that reporting companies may need additional time to comply given the period when the preliminary injunction had been in effect.”

For reporting companies created or registered prior to Jan. 1, 2024, the deadline has been extended from the previous Jan. 1, 2025, to Jan. 13, 2025, according to the alert.

For those created or registered on or after Sept. 4, 2024, that had a deadline between Dec. 3 and Dec. 23, the deadline has been extended to Jan. 13, 2025.

Reporting companies created or registered on or after Dec. 3 and on or before Dec. 23, 2024, have an additional 21 days beyond their additional filing deadline.

Reporting companies that qualify for disaster relief may have extended deadlines that fall beyond Dec. 13, 2025.

Those that are created or registered on or after Jan. 1, 2025, have 30 days to file their beneficial ownership information after receiving actual or public notice that their creation or registration is effective, per the alert.

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) that created the beneficial ownership information reporting requirements faces legal challenges in several courts around the country, but “the Government continues to believe — consistent with the conclusions of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and the District of Oregon — that the CTA is constitutional,” the alert said.

It was reported Dec. 9 that as of Dec. 1, about 30% of small businesses had reported beneficial ownership information to FinCEN.

At that time, about 32.6 million businesses were required to submit an initial beneficial ownership information report by Jan. 1.