Taxpayer Advocate Service says most businesses must file ownership reports with FinCEN

By Atlas Watchline Staff · Regulatory · July 29, 2026

The Taxpayer Advocate Service says most U.S. businesses and foreign companies registered to do business in the United States must file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN. A March 2, 2025 update on the page says Treasury will not enforce penalties or fines tied to the reporting rule.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service says most U.S. businesses and foreign companies registered to do business in the United States must file beneficial ownership information with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN.

A March 2, 2025 update on the page says Treasury will not enforce any penalties or fines associated with the reporting rule. The same page also says failure to file can lead to civil and criminal penalties.

What the page says

The Taxpayer Advocate Service describes the Corporate Transparency Act as a 2021 law meant to increase business ownership transparency and help reduce fraudulent and illegal activity. It says FinCEN began accepting beneficial ownership reports through its website in January 2024.

According to the page, reporting companies created or registered to do business before Jan. 1, 2024, had until Jan. 1, 2025, to file an initial report. Companies created or registered in 2024 had 90 days to file, and those created or registered after Jan. 1, 2025, have 30 days.

The page defines a beneficial owner as someone who directly or indirectly exercises substantial control over a business or owns or controls at least 25% of it. It says reporting companies must provide basic information about themselves and their beneficial owners.

Why it matters

The page says the reporting rule applies to most existing U.S. companies and foreign businesses registered in the country. The Taxpayer Advocate Service says the filing system is part of a broader federal effort to identify the people behind business entities.

The page says there are 23 exempt entity types and directs readers to FinCEN’s Small Entity Compliance Guide for exemptions and checklists. It also says FinCEN created the BOI E-Filing system for electronic submissions.

Background and context

The page lists the kinds of information companies and beneficial owners must report. For companies, that includes legal name, trade names, address, jurisdiction of registration and taxpayer identification number. For beneficial owners, it includes name, date of birth, residential address and an identifying number from a passport, driver’s license or similar document.

The page also says FinCEN launched a nationwide public service campaign to inform business owners who may be affected by the rule.

What happens next

The Taxpayer Advocate Service page does not say whether Treasury’s March 2, 2025, non-enforcement update changes filing obligations. It says the page is updated as of that date, leaving the filing requirement and the enforcement language on the same source page.

Sources

• Taxpayer Advocate Service: January 1 deadline approaching for reporting beneficial ownership information

Editorial note: This article was prepared with AI assistance and includes source attribution for reader review.

This is the AMP version of the article. Read the full article on Atlas Watchline.