The BOI Report, a report handmade businesses that are LLC’s, S or C Corporations must file with the U.S. Treasury – Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Sole proprietors are not required to file. BOI stands for Beneficial Ownership Information.
UPDATE: The Treasury Dept has extended the 12/31/24 deadline to 1/13/25. The NACPA is lobbying for 90 days, but don’t hold your breath.
“Today, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the district court preliminary injunction against BOI reporting. In addition, last week, Congress failed to pass the continuing resolution that included the BOI extension to January 1, 2026, for pre-January 1, 2024 companies.
This means tens of millions of entities formed or registered before January 1, 2024, have until January 1, 2025, to comply with their initial reports, and 2024 entities must continue to file within 90 days of formation or 30 days from a change in information.”
This means – you should just FILE THE BOI REPORT! Read the first alert here at the BOI website.
Common questions about the BOI Report & your handmade business
Below you’ll find a list of common questions and answers that you might have about the BOI Report & your handmade business.
“Why do I need to file a BOI Report for my handmade business?”
It all started back in 2021, when Congress enacted the Corporate Transparency Act – to cut down illicit finance (money laundering). Under the Corporate Transparency Act, many companies doing business in the U.S. are required to report information to the U.S. Treasury, about who actually owns or controls the company.
The BOI Report is literally just a way to prove that your business is owned by a real person (you) and isn’t being used to launder money or hide income.
“Why haven’t I heard about this before now?”
If this is the first time you’ve heard about having to file a BOI Report, you might be wondering WHY you haven’t heard about this before —- and that’s a really good question!
I’m going to be really honest and tell you that I didn’t hear anything about filing a BOI Report until just after Thanksgiving in an email notice from our lawyer! At the same time, I saw it mentioned in a crochet business Facebook group.
When I got to the U.S. Treasury – Financial Crimes Enforcement Networks website, I did a lot of poking around – and they said that they did a lot of “outreach” programs to make business owners aware of this new requirement. But honestly I think that somewhere, someone dropped the ball – I receive a LOT of accounting and tax bulletin emails, and don’t remember seeing it mentioned. Heck, even my own CPA didn’t send out an email.
“When do I have to file the BOI Report?”
This is where it gets icky and tricky as there are different due dates – depending on when you started your business.
- If you started your LLC, S or C Corp BEFORE January 1, 2024 – you need to file by December 31, 2024
- If you started your LLC, S or C Corp DURING 2024 – the report was due 90 days after you filed your LLC, S or C Corp paperwork with your state
- If you plan to start your LLC, S or C Corp in 2025 – the report is due within 30 days of filing your paperwork with your state
“What if I started my handmade business during 2024, but missed the 90-day filing deadline?”
DON’T PANIC! You’re in luck – there is a penalty-free grace period that came into play between December 3 & December 9, 2024, making filing voluntary instead of mandatory for the time being, because a recent federal court order starting in Texas. (The legal-eze will make your eyes glaze over!)
My advice – file the BOI Report voluntarily and be done with it!
Before this grace period that came into play between December 3 & December 9, 2024 there were stiff penalties that could be faced if you didn’t file timely – $500 per day/up to a maximum fine of $10,000.00 – and none of us small handmade, creative, or craft businesses could handle that!
“What information do I need to file the BOI Report?”
You don’t need a lot of information, just:
- your Federal EIN (FEIN) number (this protects your personal social security number, you may already have one – but if not I recommend that you get one, it’s free)
- a clear, readable picture of your driver’s license
“Where and HOW do I file a BOI Report for my handmade business?”
The BOI Report is free to file, so if for some reason you end up on a site that asks you to pay to file – you’re in the wrong place! Go directly to https://fincen.gov/boi
Want step-by-step instructions for completing the report? No problem, just watch the video below for all the details.
Have more questions about the BOI Report? Drop them below in the comments.
Thanks for the information, updates, and the tutorial. The online BOIR form was relatively simple to complete, yet I appreciated your guidance through the process.
Hi Anna, thanks for stopping by. Yes, the BOIR report is really pretty basic, but glad you found this info helpful.
Hi Nancy! I see that there is an injunction in place at this time. Do you still recommend filing? https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2024/dec/nationwide-injunction-halts-boi-reporting-for-now.html
Hi Becky
Yes and that’s explained above in this blog post.
It’s only delayed because of lawsuits – but the court has already filed an appeal.
Prior to this grace period the fines were steep for missing deadlines $500 per day/up to $10,000 maximum.
Considering how poorly their outreach program was initially, I doubt it will be any better based on the results of the appeal.