If you formed an LLC or a corporation in the last few years, you probably heard you had to file a “BOI report” with the federal government, and that the fines for skipping it were steep. You may still be getting letters about it. Here is where the rule stands as of October 2026.
If your company was formed in the United States, you do not file a beneficial ownership information report with FinCEN. That covers an LLC or corporation formed in any state. You also do not update or correct one you already filed. FinCEN’s final rule of August 2026 made that permanent.
How it got here, in four dates
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| March 21, 2025 | FinCEN announces an interim final rule removing the reporting requirement for U.S. companies and U.S. persons. |
| March 26, 2025 | The interim final rule is published. “Reporting company” now means only an entity formed under a foreign country’s law and registered to do business in a U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction. |
| August 11, 2026 | FinCEN issues the final rule. It “permanently removes the requirement for U.S. companies and U.S. persons to report beneficial ownership information.” |
| August 14, 2026 | The final rule is published in the Federal Register (91 FR 52528) and takes effect on publication. |
The Corporate Transparency Act, the law behind the reports, is still on the books. What changed is FinCEN’s regulation at 31 CFR 1010.380, which now defines a reporting company as an entity that is a corporation, LLC or similar entity, “formed under the law of a foreign country,” and registered to do business in a state or tribal jurisdiction. A company formed in Ohio or Arizona or anywhere else in the country is not one.
If you already filed
You do not need to do anything. FinCEN’s FAQ says “U.S. companies are exempt from BOI reporting requirements and therefore, are no longer required to file BOI reports,” and that U.S. persons with a FinCEN ID “are not required to update or correct the information they previously submitted.” With the final rule, FinCEN also said it “will delete previously reported information by U.S. persons” from its beneficial ownership database.
FinCEN also tells readers to disregard any of its older guidance that says U.S. companies or their owners must report. Anything written before 2025 may describe the old rule, so check the date on what you read.
Who still files
Only foreign reporting companies. FinCEN describes them as corporations, LLCs and similar entities “formed under the law of a foreign country that have registered to do business in the United States” by filing with a secretary of state or similar office. Under the regulation, one that registers on or after March 26, 2025 has 30 calendar days to file. The clock starts when it gets notice that its registration is effective, or when the state first gives public notice of it, whichever is earlier. Even these companies do not report U.S. persons as beneficial owners. The final rule keeps the requirement only for foreign individuals.
Say a renovation company was formed in Canada by Canadian owners, and it registers with a state to take jobs across the border. That company files within 30 days. A company formed in Michigan by a Canadian owner is a U.S. company and does not file with FinCEN.
What is left that could reach you
A state law: New York’s LLC Transparency Act
New York’s law took effect January 1, 2026. Like the federal rule, it reaches only companies formed abroad. The Department of State’s FAQ says “domestic limited liability companies and foreign limited liabilities formed in another state or U.S. territory” that are authorized to do business in New York “are exempt from reporting requirements.” Only LLCs formed outside the United States file. Such an LLC files a disclosure statement or attestation within thirty days of applying for authority, or by December 31, 2026 if it was authorized before 2026. One that is more than 30 days late is shown as “past due,” and the Department says the Attorney General may fine it up to $500 a day. If you hear of a similar law in your own state, read the state agency’s page, not a filing service’s.
Your bank’s form
When you open an account for your LLC, the bank will probably ask who owns and controls it. That is a separate FinCEN rule, 31 CFR 1010.230. It requires banks to keep procedures “reasonably designed to identify and verify beneficial owners of legal entity customers.” It covers each person who owns 25% or more, plus one person with significant control. You answer the bank, and nothing is filed with FinCEN. It is worth doing anyway, because a business account of its own is one of the habits in Separate Business and Personal Money.
The letters that keep arriving
Scammers used the BOI rule as cover, and FinCEN still warns about them. Here is what it says on its own pages:
If a message claims to be from FinCEN, FinCEN says to verify it by submitting an inquiry on its own contact page, fincen.gov/contact. Type that address yourself rather than following a link in the message. It asks that anyone impersonating it be reported to Treasury’s Office of Inspector General and the Federal Trade Commission. And if a letter or a website offers to file a BOI report for your U.S. company for a fee, there is nothing to file.
The two-minute check
- Find where your company was formed. It is on your articles of organization or incorporation.
- Formed in a U.S. state or territory: nothing to file with FinCEN, nothing to update.
- Formed in another country and registered in a state: file within 30 days of registration, for foreign individuals only. If the state is New York, it has its own filing too.
- Got a letter, an email or a message about BOI: do not pay, click or scan. Check fincen.gov/boi yourself.
If you are still choosing a structure, the reporting rule no longer needs to be part of the decision. What does matter is in LLC, Sole Proprietor or Corporation: Choosing a Structure.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and vary by state; check with the agency named above or a professional for your situation.