Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, you will be required to report online to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCen) any entity that is required to be filed with your state. That includes corporations, Limited Liability Companies (LLC), Limited Partnerships (LP), etc.
If the entity was in existence before Jan. 1, 2024, the due date for this filing is Dec. 31, 2024. If you create a new entity in 2024, however, the filing must be done within 30 days.
You cannot do this manually and must use the FINCen website (fincen.gov/boi). The filing will go live Jan. 1, 2024.
A large farm operation with more than 20 employees and at least $5 million in gross receipts will be exempt from filing this information but will be required to make a filing for all its other entities under that level.
The company will be required to provide its legal name, current street address, the state in charge of its filing requirements and taxpayer identification number.
All beneficial owners of the company will need to be listed. A beneficial owner is either of the following:
• Someone who exercises substantial control over the business entity (manager, officer, etc.).
• Anyone with at least 25% ownership in the entity.
For most farm operations, anyone owning at least 25% in the entity will automatically meet the first test, so you will likely list each of those owners. As far as we can tell, there are no related party rules on ownership.
The following information must be listed for each beneficial owner:
• Individual’s name, date of birth and street address.
• A unique identification number from an acceptable identification document (driver’s license, passport, etc. — not a social security number).
• The name of the state or jurisdiction that issued the identification document.
A copy of the identification document must also be uploaded. If you are opposed to uploading a copy of this document, remember, if you have flown on a plane in recent years and gone through security, the government already has a copy of your driver’s license. It is scanned when you check in at security.
Some farmers might be inclined to not provide this information. Be warned, the penalty for not providing it can be up to $500 per day and time in jail. This is something not to be taken lightly, and the time for filing is only a few months away.
