Advocacy Alert: FinCEN won't issue BOI penalties, will issue interim final rule
February 27, 2025
By FICPA Governmental Affairs
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on Thursday announced "that it will not issue any fines or penalties or take any other enforcement actions against any companies based on any failure to file or update beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act by the current deadlines."
Per a notice posted to FinCEN.gov: "No fines or penalties will be issued, and no enforcement actions will be taken, until a forthcoming interim final rule becomes effective and the new relevant due dates in the interim final rule have passed."
FinCEN further stipulated that the interim final rule extending BOI deadlines will be issued "no later than March 21, 2025," the same date it announced just last week as its latest BOI filing deadline.
FinCEN will also solicit public comment as it looks to "minimize [the] burden on small businesses while ensuring that BOI is highly useful to important national security, intelligence, and law enforcement activities, as well to determine what, if any, modifications to the deadlines referenced here should be considered."
The FICPA and AICPA have continued to call for a reporting delay until all litigation surrounding the Corporate Transparency Act has been resolved. Multiple cases continue to move through the courts, prompting a series of injunctions and stays since December.
Outside the courts and inside Congress, the U.S. House earlier this month passed H.R.736 - the Protect Small Businesses from Excessive Paperwork Act of 2025 - which would extend the reporting deadline for first-time filers formed or registered before 2024 from Jan. 1, 2025, to Jan. 1, 2026. That bill has since been received by Senate and is now with its Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
The FICPA will continue to send Advocacy Alerts related to BOI reporting as more information is released.