BOI-oh-BOI!

The battle over the constitutionality of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) that requires businesses to file Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reports with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) continues its roller-coaster ride. The sequence of events is as follows (so far):

• ·Two district courts found in favor of the government and one ruled against it;

• On December 3, A district court in Eastern Texas then issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting enforcement. The government appealed the negative decisions.

• The Fifth Circuit Court ruled on December 23 put a stay on the injunction, thereby reinstating the requirement for BOI reporting. FinCEN therefore extended the filing deadline for BOI reports to January 13, 2025.

• Now, that same Circuit Court has LIFTED the injunction, thereby reinstating the hold on reporting. So as of this writing, NO BOI REPORTING IS REQUIRED.

The advice for employers is to maintain the data needed for that reporting in case it is once again reinstated. It will be interesting to see what, if any, effect the incoming Administration will have on this whole affair. In the meantime, FinCEN maintains updates (“Alerts”) on its website at https://www.fincen.gov/boi. There is one current posting about numerous fraudulent attempts to gain company information that employers would do well to check if the BOI reporting mandate survives.