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On this Legal with Leah, Ohio Farm Bureau Associate General Counsel Leah Curtis is back yet again to talk about the Corporate Transparency Act as a new deadline to file has been set.

UPDATE (from Ohio Farm Bureau Associate General Counsel Leah Curtis):

“As of Feb. 27, 2025, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced they would not issue any fines or penalties or take enforcement action against companies based on failure to file or update beneficial ownership information reports by the March 21, 2025, deadline. The agency announced they intend to release an interim rule with additional guidance and deadlines, and no enforcement would take place until any relevant dates under the forthcoming rule have passed.”

Listen to Legal with Leah, a podcast featuring Ohio Farm Bureau’s Associate General Counsel Leah Curtis discussing topics impacting farmers and landowners.

Transcript

Ty Higgins [00:00:00] Welcome to a new episode of Legal with Leah, back yet again to talk about the Corporate Transparency Act. Leah Curtis is associate general counsel with Ohio Farm Bureau. Leah, this is take four of this particular topic. Last time we spoke, we had CTA back on hold. Give us some of the new updates we’re hearing about the Corporate Transparency Act.

Leah Curtis [00:00:24] So the last time we spoke, the CTA was back on hold. We did know in mid-January that the US Supreme Court had reversed the nationwide injunction that had been in place, but in a separate lawsuit, a judge had said another nationwide stay of the law. So everything kind of remained on hold at that point. But last week, that court did issue a decision to lift its nationwide stay as well, meaning that the CTA is back on and businesses are going to need to file their beneficial owner information.

Ty Higgins [00:00:54] And with this new development, there are some new deadlines.

Leah Curtis [00:00:58] So originally, many of you may remember we’ve talked about the CTA deadline was Jan. 1, 2025 for any businesses that were created prior to 2024. Now, those businesses will have until March 21, 2025 to file their beneficial ownership information. If you had a later deadline already than March 21, you’ll stick to that deadline. But for pretty much everyone else, you’re going to want to file by March 21.

Ty Higgins [00:01:25] Obviously, with this back and forth, there’s been a lot of concerns about these filings. Any other changes we might see in the future?

Leah Curtis [00:01:33] Well, when FinCEN issued the announcement about the new deadline, they did state that they plan to review the rules during this time and assess any options to further modify deadlines. But they are going to prioritize filing for entities that have a significant national security risk. In addition, there is a bill in Congress to further extend the deadline out. However, it’s not passed the Senate yet. So we really don’t know what its chances are. So both of those things are very unsure. The only sure thing we know right now is that deadline as of March 21.

Ty Higgins [00:02:05] So with all this uncertainty, what should people do now?

Leah Curtis [00:02:09] So this is why we’ve kind of suggested all along to be prepared in case things change. You should consult as a business with your legal advisor if you have any questions about if you need to file or who should be filing the information. But the deadline is March 21. And at this point, we can’t know that’s going to be extended beyond that time. So people should visit with their legal advisors or consider getting that filing done.

Ty Higgins [00:02:33] A new wrinkle in this is that some people are taking advantage of the confusion. A lot of scams going around dealing with this new BOI requirement. What should people watch out for?

Leah Curtis [00:02:45] So anyone filing should make sure that they are at the fincen.gov website. That’s F-I-N-C-E-N .gov. That is the website where you officially file this information. They will not ask you to pay to file directly with them. So if you’re at a website that’s asking for a payment, that’s a huge red flag. Abort mission, find the right place. There’s also been some emails and mails sent out that has references to things like Form 4022 or Form 50 O2 or the US Business Regulations department. None of those are legitimate. That’s not a legitimate government entity. Those forms are not legitimate. So please make sure you’re not sending this BOI information to anyone else. There is a distinct portal on that fincen website to submit everything. There’s a quick video that kind of explains everything there too. So make sure you’re at that right place and not getting taken by one of these scams that’s out there.