BOI Report for LLC

What Is a BOI Report?

A BOI report is a legal document that certain business entities must submit to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in order to comply with federal regulations. It’s used to disclose the identities of a business’s beneficial owners, essentially revealing who owns and/or controls the company.

BOI reporting was initially introduced into law in 2021 through the Corporate Transparency Act in order to counter a number of illegal activities, such as money laundering, serious tax fraud, and securities and financial fraud.

As of March 21, 2025, FinCEN has removed all BOI reporting requirements for US LLCs and persons. Currently, only foreign entities registered in the United States must file BOI reports within 30 days of registration.

This significant change means that domestic LLCs no longer need to identify or report beneficial owners — individuals who own or control at least 25% of a company or have significant influence over its operations — to FinCEN.

For foreign entities that still must comply, a beneficial owner is defined as an individual who either exercises substantial control over the company or owns or controls at least 25% of the company’s ownership interests. These entities must submit their reports through FinCEN’s BOI E-Filing System.

Haven’t formed your LLC yet? We recommend checking out our in-depth How to Start an LLC guide for a step-by-step breakdown of everything you need to know to register your business.

Do I Need a BOI Report for My LLC?

With the recent changes as of March 21, 2025, US-based LLCs are no longer required to submit BOI reports to FinCEN. Only foreign entities registered to do business in the United States must file BOI reports, and they must do so within 30 days of registration.

Previously, businesses that were required to report beneficial ownership information were known as “reporting companies,” which referred to domestic and foreign businesses created or registered in the United States by filing a document with a Secretary of State (or an equivalent office).

While most LLCs were included in this requirement, FinCEN outlined 23 types of businesses that were exempt from BOI reporting requirements. These include:

However, since the March 21, 2025, changes, these exemptions are only relevant for foreign entities registering to do business in the United States.

How to File a BOI Report (For Foreign Entities Only)

After establishing that your LLC needs to file a BOI report, there are three key steps you’ll need to complete:

If your entity is a foreign company registering to do business in the United States, you’ll need to complete the following steps to file a BOI report:

1. Prepare Your Information

You can use FinCEN’s BOI E-Filing System in order to submit your report, which you may complete offline by uploading a PDF or electronically using the online application provided. You also can take advantage of a number of third-party service providers that FinCEN allows to automate this filing process on your behalf.

Before you start filling out your BOI report, make sure all your information is up-to-date. If there’s a mistake on this report or your entity’s information changes, you’ll have 30 days after the date you became aware of this change/error to correct it. Failing to do so can incur hefty fines of up to $591 for each day this carries on, as well as up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

2. Choose Your Type of Filing

The next step involved in submitting your BOI report is to determine the type of filing that’s applicable to your situation. You’ll be presented with four options:

• Initial report: This option is for reporting companies that are submitting a BOI report for the first time.
• Correct prior report: Any reporting companies that have included inaccurate information on an earlier BOI report will need to select this option in order to correct this information.
• Update prior report: This option is for reporting companies that need to update the information contained in a previous report that has changed (e.g., if there are any new beneficial owners, etc.).
• Newly exempt entity: Any reporting companies that became exempt after submitting a BOI report will need to use this option.

Selecting the correct filing type is essential to ensure your BOI report is both accurate and compliant. With this step complete, you’ll be ready to actually fill out the form with the relevant information.

3. Fill Out Your BOI Report

The BOI report has three main parts that you must fill out. We’ve broken these out below.

Part 1: Reporting Company Information 

This section will include your entity’s legal name and “doing business as” (DBA) name if it has one, business address, and Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). Foreign reporting companies without a TIN must provide an equivalent number from the relevant tax jurisdiction in their country.

Part 2: Company Applicant Information 

Company applicants are the individuals who filed the document to register an entity. If this involved more than one person, the individual primarily responsible for controlling the filing would be the company applicant. In this section, you’ll need to include the name, date of birth, residential address, and an acceptable form of ID for this individual.

Part 3: Beneficial Owner Information 

These are individuals who either exercise substantial control over — or own at least 25% of — a reporting company’s ownership interests with the exception of minors, nominees, non-senior employees, and future inheritors. In this final section, you’ll need to provide the names, dates of birth, residential addresses, and an acceptable ID for each of these individuals.

4. Submit Your BOI Report

After completing this report in its entirety, you’ll need to submit it to FinCEN by including your email and first and last names as well as confirming you’re authorized to file the BOI report on your entity’s behalf. After pressing the “Submit BOIR” button, you’ll reach a page that confirms the status of your report.

While there’s no fee for submitting a BOI report, foreign entities doing business in the United States must file it within 30 days of their registration.

Note: While most reporting companies will have no problems submitting their BOI report to FinCEN on their own, many business owners find consulting a professional service provider to be a great way of handling this quickly and without stress.