Hey everyone! There has been a big update in the legal saga of this BOI (Beneficial Ownership Interest) reporting being required of small business owners by the FINCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network). The government filed an appeal with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on the Stay that they issued just last week. The government is asking that the Court review the appeal, and make a decision no later than DECEMBER 27th - to remove the stay. That means, that the Court could potentially reverse the prior decision, and say that YES, EVERYONE NEEDS TO FILE BY DEC 31st - and that ruling could come as late as 4 DAYS PRIOR! To say that this is mess is a major understatement, but it is where we are at. My advice is to take one of two options: OPTION 1 - Play it safe, and just file the BOI report now. Get it over with, don't worry about having to track all these court cases and changes, and don't worry that the servers could get overloaded in the last few days, and mess you up. The $500 per day penalties aren't worth the stress. Just file the report. If you go this route, but don't want to mess with the FINCEN website and filing directly, shoot me a message. My firm can help assist you for just $99 per entity. OPTION 2 - Don't file anything until you absolutely have to. I know plenty of owners who are feeling this way, and you are entirely justified. However, remember that you will want to stay on top of this legal circus, so that you don't miss any reversals, or changes to the ruling. This would be one time that ignorance would NOT be bliss! Here at Ask My Accountant, we will be watching the courts daily from here on out, to track this, so you can always pop in here to catch up on the latest legal updates for this BOI reporting legal challenge! And reply here with any questions you have, of course! Okay, that's it for our Saturday updates! Have an awesome evening!

Hey guys! Chances are, you've been hearing some new acronyms lately! Let's break them down, then talk about what is going on with them! SPOILER - IT'S GOOD NEWS! BOI - Beneficial Ownership Interest CTA - Corporate Transparency Act FinCen - Financial Crimes Enforcement Network YIKES - that doesn't sound good on the surface, does it? Well, no. A few years ago, a law was passed called the CORPORATE TRANSPARENCY ACT, which required business owners to file a BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP INTEREST report, with the FINANCIAL CRIMES ENFORCEMENT NETWORK. Basically, the government wanted to get contact information for every business owner, partner, shareholder, or anyone with "beneficial interest" in a business, all across the country. Because, you know, someone might try to commit a financial crime, and they would need that contact info. BLEH! And, all businesses started in 2024 were supposed to file this report within 90 calendar days of starting. And by starting, they meant the business name (or assumed business name) was registered with the state in which it was formed. So, filing as an LLC, registering an assumed business name or DBA "doing business as" name, as a nonprofit, or a corporation - all those things - basically filing anything with the state to declare a business - was considered "starting a business." And, all businesses "started" prior to 2024, had to file this BOI report with FinCen no later than Dec 31, 2024. Failure to file by the proper deadline could result in penalties of up to $500 per day. So, they really meant business. Now that we're in December, many business owners have been scrambling to get this done, and/or stressing out over it. (Hint, me included!) But wait, here comes Texas to the rescue! The Fifth Circuit Court in Texas has ruled this new reporting law as unconstitutional, and declared that is in unenforceable in all 50 states! Which is GOOD! That means that as of this morning, no business owner is required to comply with this reporting law.