Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting
**UPDATE: On December 3rd, a federal district court in Texas issued a preliminary injunction, temporarily halting implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act and BOI reporting. FinCEN responded with appeals to the district court and the Fifth Circuit appellate court. As of December 17th, the district court has denied the motion for appeal. It is unclear what the circuit court’s decision will be, but it is certain that this topic will not go away anytime soon. For now, business owners should consider determining *if* they need to report, in case a 2025 or future deadline does return. FinCEN is still accepting reporting information for those that want to voluntarily submit.
IFB is monitoring this issue closely and will share more information as soon as possible.
Effective January 1, 2024, Federal law – the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) – requires certain entities, including many farming operations and other small businesses, to report information about ownership to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The CTA was originally passed to combat money laundering and organized crime funding, through numerous actions, including Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) filing to FinCEN.
This filing requirement may affect nearly 5,000 farming operations in Illinois, including many family farms and partnerships. However, less than 11% of eligible businesses nationwide have filed their BOI. Those who don’t report BOI to FinCEN by the January 1, 2025, deadline* or who fail to update information in the future could face civil ($591 per day of violation)1 and criminal penalties (up to two years imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000).
Please use the resources below to help understand if you are required to report this information or seek additional information from a lawyer or accountant.
Resources
Farm Week articles – Dec. 9 article; Oct. 21 article; Perspectives Q & A
RFD recording – Oct. 18, Seven with Kevin; (second interview)
Additional Background & Resources
BOI Small Entity Compliance Guide (U.S. Treasury)
BOI FAQ (U.S. Treasury)
Five-minute demo video (U.S. Treasury)
Corporate Transparency Act Market Intel (AFBF)
*Deadline to file varies slightly depending on business inception.
1 This represents the value as of April 2024. However, this civil penalty amount is adjusted annually for inflation.