Beneficial Owner Reporting Still Not Required For Now
The last days of December 2024 saw a flurry of court activity related to the requirement for companies to file beneficial owner information. After the dust settled, the requirement remains on hold for now.
Here is a summary of how the injunction that stopped the filing requirement was briefly lifted and then reinstated. Again, the result is that companies are not currently required to file beneficial owner information, for now.
As discussed in our post on December 10, 2024, a nationwide injunction put the beneficial owner information filing requirement on hold. On December 23, 2024, a motions panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit lifted this injunction, which meant that, for that brief moment, the filing requirement was back in effect. However, on December 26, 2024, the merits panel of the same appeals court reinstated the injunction, meaning that the requirement for companies to file beneficial owner information was, again, put on hold.
On December 27, 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) confirmed that reporting companies are not currently required to file beneficial owner information, based on the latest December 26, 2024 ruling. As a result, the January 1, 2025 filing due date for existing entities remains suspended until the ongoing litigation ends.
At this time, reporting companies and their representatives must remain vigilant for future changes in this very volatile environment.
Search our archive of tax news posts for earlier posts on the requirement to file beneficial owner information.
Our seminars in January will discuss strategies to deal with the Corporate Transparency Act, in light of the recent court decisions.
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