There is a new law called the Corporate Transparency Act. While it is a law made in the US, it does affect businesses in other countries that are registered to do business in the US.
Also while yes the law was called unconstitutional, the United States Government is still keeping it alive and is not getting rid of it. It being called unconstitutional will mean that some changes to the law could happen.
This law requires legal business entities created/registered by filing business formation documents with a secretary of state or any office similar to secretary of state, to file a BOIR (Beneficial Ownership Information Report) also called a B.O.I. report.
Some legal entities that have to file this report are some corporations, S-corps, LLCs (Limited Liability Companies), LLPs (Limited liability partnership). Businesses made in other countries that registered to do business in the US are also required to file the BOI report.
Not every Youtuber, LLC, LLP, corporation has to file a BOI report. This law affects Youtubers & other business owners that own LLC (Limited Liability Company), or LLPs (Limited liability partnership). If you don’t own an LLC, LLP or any other business that was created/registered by filing business formation documents with a secretary of state or any office similar to secretary of state, you most likely don’t have to file a BOIR.
LLCs (limited liability companies) are companies with some legal protections. If you know someone that owns a business, ask if that person’s business is an LLC, because there is a chance that business is an LLC and has to file the BOIR. Many businesses can be an LLC like a restaurant, spa, bakery, and many more.
Sole-proprietorships that registered/created with secretary of state or any office similar to secretary of state, have to file BOIR.
There are exceptions to what types of businesses don’t have to file the BOI report. You can take these quizzes to find out if your business falls under certain exceptions that makes you not required to file a BOI report. If one quiz says you don’t have to file it, while another says you have to, just file the report.
https://boifilingexperts.com/quiz/
https://www.abetterbusiness.com/boi-quiz (this quiz can also help you figure out people that need to be listed on the BOIR.
If one quiz says you don’t have to file it, while another says you have to, just file the report.
Please note that these quizzes aren’t perfect and tell your audience it is best to talk to a lawyer to know if their business falls under exemptions, making them not required to file a BOIR.
A minority of YouTubers, some business owners, and some of your viewers do own LLCs or LLPs that don’t fall under any of the exemptions which makes them have to file a BOIR.
On the BOIR/BOI report you must list beneficial owners of the company. From my research, A beneficial owner is legally a person who either directly or indirectly who have a lot of control over a reporting company. They don’t have to be beneficial to the company to be a beneficial owner. The term beneficial owner is also used to describe people that get the benefits of owning something even if they aren’t the legal owners of it. So even if someone has been a bad owner/an owner that isn’t beneficial to the company, they technically are a beneficial owner.
On the BOIR/B.O.I. report, you must list owners of the company, list employees that have a lot of control of the company or have a high position of power in the company: company President, CFO (chief financial officer), general counsel, CEO (chief executive officer), or COO (chief operating officer), or any other employee that performs functions similar to those of a company President, chief financial officer, general counsel, chief executive officer, or chief operating officer.
They are all legally beneficial owners of the company since they have a lot of control of the company.
Stockholders that own more than 25% of all the Company’s stocks are legally beneficial owners and have to be on the BOI report.
You will need a photo of one of these people’s identifying documents.
List of Identifying Documents
- Passport
- State ID
- Government ID
- Native tribe-issued identification document
- Driver’s license
You don’t need a photo of all of these items from those people. Just a photo of one of these items. It’s okay if you only get a photo of those people’s driver’s license.
You can watch a YouTube tutorial on how to transfer photos of those IDs from your phone to your computer.
Businesses that have to file a BOIR are called reporting companies.
The due date for filing the first/initial BOIR depends on when the business was made. If the first/initial BOI report isn’t filed on time, there is a chance of punishment of a big fine and possibly jail. So please make a video about this law so this doesn’t happen to people.
Reporting Companies made and registered before 2024, have to file their first BOIR before 2025.
Reporting Companies made or registered in the year 2024 that have to file their first report, must file their first BOI report within 90 days after they receive a notice of the company’s creation or registration to file its initial (first) BOI report. Also, their first BOIR must contain their company applicants.
Reporting companies created or registered in year 2025, will have 30 calendar days from actual or public notice that the company’s creation or registration is effective to file their initial BOIR. Also, their first BOIR must contain their company applicants.
Reporting company’s made/registered in the year 2024 or after 2024 must list company applicants in their BOIR. Company applicants are people that filed the documents that created/registered your company. Examples: lawyer, attorney, accountant, that filed the documents that created/registered your business. If more than one person is involved in the filing, the individual who is primarily responsible for directing or controlling the filing is the company applicant.
If you use an automated incorporation service/business formation service, such as any of these websites below or any online platform, to file the creation or registration document for your company, whoever is the company applicant is going to depend on the situation.
If you prepare and self-file the documents to create your own reporting company through an automated incorporation service. In this case, you report yourself as a company applicant. If an employee of the business formation service helps you, that employee is the company applicant. If employees of the business formation service don’t directly help you, they aren’t a company applicant.
You usually only have to send one BOIR unless your first BOIR has mistakes or outdated info on it. The due dates for your next BOIR are 30 days after any changes in who are beneficial owners of the company.
For example there is a new owner of the company or a new company President, chief financial officer, general counsel, chief executive officer, or chief operating officer, or any other new employee that performs functions similar to those positions. You have to send another BOIR that lists them as the beneficial owners.
If any of the company's beneficial owners moves to a new home, you would need to send another BOIR.
You also would have to send another BOIR report if you sent your first BOIR, but then your business becomes a newly exempt entity.
A reporting company will also have to report on the BOIR:
- Its legal name;
- Any trade names, “doing business as” (d/b/a), or “trading as” (t/a) names;
- The current street address of its principal place of business if that address is in the United States (for example, a U.S. reporting company’s headquarters), or, for reporting companies whose principal place of business is outside the United States, the current address from which the company conducts business in the United States (for example, a foreign reporting company’s U.S. headquarters). The address cannot be a P.O. box.
- Its jurisdiction of formation or registration
- Its Taxpayer Identification Number (or, if a foreign reporting company has not been issued a TIN, a tax identification number issued by a foreign jurisdiction and the name of the jurisdiction).
There is no fee you have to pay to file this report. Anyone that tells you there is a fee is trying to scam you.
When you make a video on the BOIR insert these links in your video description:
Go to this website to File the BOIR. You will be sending the BOIR to FINCEN.
https://boiefiling.fincen.gov/boir/html
More Info about BOIR
https://www.fincen.gov/boi-faqs
https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/BOI_Small_Compliance_Guide.v1.1-FINAL.pdf
Video that contains more information on how to file it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5tzd6gihNk
Extra BOIR Info
https://youtu.be/hqhMfe6eXLA?si=KH4mkCgA5F8GXL9n
BOIR report Quizzes
https://fincenboifiling.com/forms/free-boi-quiz/
https://boifilingexperts.com/quiz/
https://www.abetterbusiness.com/boi-quiz (this quiz can also help you figure out people that need to be listed on the BOIR.)
