WARNING — New Government Rule: File This Report in 28 Days or Face Jail

If you didn't know, there's a new law in effect for 2024. It's called the Corporate Transparency Act and the deadline to file is December 31st of 2024. Essentially, the US government is going after small businesses. You must file this report, otherwise you will be penalized up to $10,000 and $591 a day and up to two years in jail. Large companies that make more than $5 million are exempt from this new rule. The government is forcing you to report your personal information to crack down on money laundering and illegal activities. If you don't submit, those are the consequences. So here's what's going on. The Corporate Transparency Act passed in 2021 and went into effect this year in 2024. If you own a small business, you must report your personal information to FinCEN, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. So you can do so here. This is their official government website and I want to answer frequently asked questions. And this is coming straight from the FinCEN website. Small business owners must file their beneficial ownership information. So why do companies have to submit this report? What's the purpose? So they say it's now a reporting requirement as part of the US government's efforts to make it harder for bad actors to hide or benefit. Now what information will a reporting company have to report about its beneficial owners? You will need to submit your name, date of birth, residential address, and your driver's license or your passport. So who will be able to access this information that you submit? It's going to be federal agencies, state, local, and tribal law enforcements, officials at the Department of the Treasury, foreign law enforcement agencies, foreign judges, foreign prosecutors, foreign authorities, financial institutions, and federal regulators. Now what are the penalties for violating BOI requirements? So in the bottom half it says a $10,000 fine and up to two years in prison. And what I outlined says civil penalties of up to $500 for each day the violation continues. But they adjusted it for inflation from $500 a day to $591 a day. Now when do you need to file your report by with FinCEN? If you created your business before 2024, you must file by January 1st of 2025. If you created your business in 2024, you must file within 90 days of creating your business. So going forward, if you create your business in 2025 or after, you have 30 calendar days to file your reports from when you form your small business. Now if you are unaware of this new law, it's because FinCEN probably did a bad job of telling small business owners about this. So it says how will companies become aware of the BOI reporting requirements? So FinCEN says that they would raise awareness with a robust outreach program that involves virtual and in-person outreach events and social media. So I just want to ask you this, could you imagine an event, an in-person event like the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network party about BOI requirements? I mean that's not something that sounds too appealing. Now what I don't like about this program, well I mean I don't like this program at all, so I would say what I really don't like about this program is that it gives exemptions. So the purpose of this new law is to prevent money laundering and illegal activities, right? However, banks are exempt, money service businesses are exempt, venture capital funds are exempt, and large companies are exempt. So take a look, it says it right here, there's an exemption for certain inactive entities and another exemption for any company that reported more than 5 million in gross receipts or sales. So essentially this only applies to small businesses. If there's any large companies out there that are participating in illegal activities or money laundering, then they're exempt from reporting this and giving their giving their information. Now some people are going to make the argument that large companies should be exempt from this because they they face more disclosures, but I would argue that not all of them are. So if the U.S. government is going to make small businesses subject to this new rule, the least that they can do is make the big businesses do this as well. Like how is this fair? Now this new rule will affect 32 million small businesses in the United States of America. So I want to show you the process, I want to talk a little bit about the potential repeal of this and also the criticism. So if you want to file this new report, you have to go to the FinCEN website, which is an official government website, and then you click on file, which I highlighted in red. So that will take you to this page and then you click on file a BOIR and that will take you here and then you click on prepare and submit BOIR. And then from there they want you to answer their questions and have your driver's license or your passport ready because you'll have to submit a photo of it. Now another option is if you have a payroll software like Gusto, you can submit your report through them. So this video is not sponsored by Gusto, it's just an example. Now I want to share this very important information with you. If you have an S corporation or a C corporation, then you need to file this report. If you are a sole proprietor, then you do not need to file a report. If you are an LLC, taxed as a sole proprietor, then you do need to file. So essentially if you created a business entity with the Secretary of State, then you need to file. Now let me know what you think about this. Is this government overreach or is this no big deal? Do the pros outweigh the cons or vice versa? So just so you know, many politicians in Congress, they're trying to overturn this. They're trying to repeal this, the Corporate Transparency Act. So here's a quote from Senator Tuberville. The Corporate Transparency Act is big government overreach at its worst. Here's Congressman Warren Davidson. The Treasury Department is attempting to create a database on every American business owner. Failure to register by the end of the year could land you in jail. This unprecedented intrusion into personal privacy must be stopped. Now here's a bill in the House of Representatives that is trying to repeal the Corporate Transparency Act. However, seven months have passed by and it's just been sitting there. So perhaps it will get repealed in the new administration. However, this new law, it's now in effect. Okay. So that's my heads up to you. And I do not like this. I don't like how the government is forcing Americans, law-abiding Americans, to give their information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. I don't like how they're giving a pass, you know, exemptions to big corporations as well. Like if they're going after big time criminals to stop money laundering, illegal activities, shouldn't they be going after them? Like this is ridiculous. But that's just my opinion. Please subscribe. I thank you for the support. I wish you a very nice day. Take care.