The FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Report filing deadline is approaching fast. It’s important to be aware of scammers trying to take advantage of this by creating fake websites that look like the official FinCEN website.
What is the BOI Report and What is the Deadline?
The Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Report is a government mandate aimed at enhancing transparency within business ownership to combat financial crimes. However, it presents challenges for businesses, particularly small ones. Faced with a $175 per report fee from my accountant, I decided to file it myself. This led me to encounter numerous scam websites, highlighting the risk of falling victim to fraudulent activities.
While the actual government website (fincen.gov/boi) is relatively quick to complete, navigating through the process can be a significant distraction for small business owners already juggling numerous end-of-year tasks and facing potential confusion and misdirection.
The BOI Report is a new requirement for certain businesses to report information about their beneficial owners. The deadline to file the first BOI Report is February 28, 2025. Failing to file by the deadline can result in penalties of up to $592 per day.
We love searching on Google and using AI and other searches such as Facebook search, but as you can see, there are many scam artists ready to take your money on things such as hotel searches and masquerading as government websites.
How to Avoid Scams
- Never enter your credit card information on a BOI Report filing website. The FinCEN BOI Report is free to file.
- Only use the official FinCEN website: The legitimate website address is fincen.gov/boi. Look out for typos or lookalike domains such as boir.com in the address bar.
- Be cautious of unsolicited emails or calls about the BOI Report. FinCEN will not contact you directly to request your filing.
- Don’t trust TikTok or Youtube videos on this subject
How to File a BOI Report
The BOI Report can be filed electronically through the FinCEN website. You will need to create an account and gather some information about your business and its beneficial owners.
Here are the steps to file a BOI Report:
- Go to the FinCEN (make sure it says .GOV in the url at the top of the browser) website
- Click on “File a BOI Report”
- Create an account or sign in to your existing account
- Follow the instructions to complete the BOI Report
By following these steps, you can ensure that you are filing your BOI Report correctly and avoiding any scams.
The biggest take from this is that here we have a fraudulent business taking advantage of a government report set up to be more transparent about financial crimes. Someone tell us how this makes sense and why no one is being arrested over this?
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