Beneficial ownership reports for US companies: where FinCEN stands

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It gives the dates and wording of three FinCEN documents and the notice on FinCEN's own page. Rules on this subject have been changed more than once, so each entry names its date.

Timeline

Date	Document	What it says
March 21, 2025	FinCEN announcement	Says it is applying the exemptions and deadline extensions of an interim final rule from this date
March 26, 2025	Interim final rule, 90 FR 13688	Narrows reporting to entities formed under foreign law; effective March 26, 2025
August 11, 2026	FinCEN final rule issued	Makes the exemptions permanent
August 14, 2026	Final rule, 91 FR 52508	Published in the Federal Register; effective August 14, 2026

The March 2025 interim final rule

The Federal Register abstract of the interim final rule published March 26, 2025 says FinCEN adopted it to narrow the beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act. Only entities previously defined as "foreign reporting companies" were required to report. Entities previously defined as "domestic reporting companies" were exempted and did not have to report BOI to FinCEN, or update or correct BOI already reported. The rule also exempted foreign reporting companies from reporting any US persons who were beneficial owners, and exempted US persons from giving that information to such a company. It extended the filing deadline for initial reports, updates and corrections to 30 days from the date of publication. FinCEN's page says that under the rule an entity formed under foreign law and registered to do business in a US state or tribal jurisdiction was the kind of company covered. It says companies registered to do business in the United States before March 26, 2025 had to file by April 25, 2025, and those registered on or after that date had 30 calendar days from notice that registration was effective.

The August 2026 final rule

The Federal Register abstract of the final rule, published August 14, 2026, says FinCEN adopted the interim final rule as final, with limited changes. It says the final rule continues to exempt reporting companies from reporting the BOI of US person beneficial owners, and continues to exempt those owners from giving BOI to reporting companies. It adds further exemptions. Reporting companies do not have to submit information about their US person company applicants to FinCEN, and US person company applicants have no obligation to provide their information. It also exempts all US persons from the requirement to update information already provided to FinCEN in connection with obtaining a FinCEN identifier.

FinCEN's Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting page carries an alert updated August 11, 2026. It says that under the final rule, US companies are exempt from the BOI reporting requirements and are no longer required to file BOI reports, and that only certain foreign companies registered to do business in the United States must report. It says the final rule became effective on August 14, 2026. The page also says some of its guidance may be outdated and lists statements to disregard, including that US companies or their beneficial owners must report BOI and that BOI reports were due before April 25, 2025.

Warnings on the FinCEN page

The same page carries an alert about fraudulent mail. It says there is no fee to file BOI directly with FinCEN, that FinCEN does not send correspondence asking for payment, and that mail referring to a "Form 4022" or a "Form 5102" is fraudulent because FinCEN has no such forms. It also says there is no government entity called the "US Business Regulations Dept."

For the other registrations a US tree business meets, see the guide on starting a tree service by country.