Hi Reader!

For more than a decade, my advice about how to keep your LLC legit hasn’t changed–until this year. When on January 1, 2024, a new law went into effect for LLCs to report their beneficial ownership information.

In case you haven't heard, in 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act. The public policy behind this law is to prevent criminals from using anonymous shell businesses for illegal activities. And this law creates a federal database managed by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of who owns an LLC or corporation, so if these businesses participate in financial crimes, the government knows who is responsible.

This means if you are any of the following, you’ll need to comply:

• Corporation
• LLC
• Limited Partnership
• Limited Liability Partnership
• Professional corporation or professional LLC

You do NOT need to comply if you are a sole proprietorship or a general partnership.

The form you are required to complete is called the Beneficial Ownership Information Report (BOIR). And while this might seem like a pain, I’ll let you know that the form is pretty simple. I did it for my business in less than 9 minutes without reading any resources or tutorials (and that included grabbing and taking a photo of my ID).

Here’s the short version of what you need to know…

Filing windows

• If your LLC was created on or before December 31, 2023, then you have until January 1, 2025, to file your initial report.
• If your LLC is created in 2024 (January 1 to December 31), you have 90 days from your LLC being approved by your state to file this form.

To file you’ll need

• Your LLC’s EIN (Don’t have an EIN yet? Get one first using this resource.)
• What state you created your LLC in
• An electronic image of each business owner’s non-expired U.S. State/Tribe-issued driver’s license or U.S. passport (file type must be JPG, JPEG, PNG, or PDF and must be less than 4 MB in size)

How to file

• Go to the BOI e-filling website​
• Complete each action item in my BOIR step-by-step guide (includes screenshots)

Keep your report updated

If any information on your report changes, you have 30 days to update your BOIR.

This might include:

• Changing your LLC address
• Adding/removing a new business owner
• A business owner moves to a new address

I walk you through each of the items above in this week’s post that covers all aspects of this new law and how to submit your BOIR.

​Read the Beneficial Ownership Information Report post​

I'll be sitting at my computer until about 9:30 AM Pacific and I'd love to know what questions you have about LLCs. (And if you are reading this after then, please reply! I'll get back to you ASAP.)

Chat soon,

P.S. I updated my book, LLC For Your Creative Business, to include a new chapter to cover this requirement. And to celebrate, this weekend the Kindle version is on sale! The price starts at $0.99 today and increases over the weekend back to its original price of $9.99 by Tuesday morning. So if you want a roadmap to all aspects of keeping your LLC legit, make sure you grab it! Buy it now on Amazon.

❤️ Easy to understand legal resources should be available to every creative, regardless of their financial situation. If one of my resources has helped you and you would like to say “thank you”, you can make a contribution here. ❤️