How to File a BOI Report Online: Deadlines, Steps, and Penalties

To file a Beneficial Ownership Information report online, go to FinCEN’s free portal at boiefiling.fincen.gov, gather your company and beneficial owner details in advance, and complete the form in a single session. Most filers finish in under 30 minutes. Before you start, confirm you actually need to file: a FinCEN interim final rule published on March 26, 2025 exempted all domestic reporting companies, so only entities formed under foreign law and registered to do business in a U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction are currently required to report.¹ If your LLC or corporation was formed by filing with a U.S. secretary of state, you do not file a BOI report under the current rule.

Do You Still Need to File

Under the revised definition, a “reporting company” is a corporation, LLC, or similar entity formed under the law of a foreign country and registered to do business in any U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction by filing a document with a secretary of state or similar office.² U.S.-formed entities and their beneficial owners are exempt regardless of ownership.¹

Even among foreign reporting companies, 23 exemption categories exist, covering banks, credit unions, insurance companies, registered investment companies, tax-exempt organizations, and large operating companies. The large operating company exemption requires more than 20 full-time U.S. employees, a physical U.S. office, and more than $5,000,000 in gross receipts or sales on the prior-year federal tax return. All three conditions must be met.³

FinCEN has indicated it intended to issue a final rule within the statutory period extending to January 1, 2026. Check fincen.gov/boi for the current requirements before filing.

Deadlines

Foreign reporting companies that became reporting companies before March 26, 2025 had until April 25, 2025 to file their initial report. If that deadline has passed and you have not filed, file as soon as possible to limit accumulating penalties.²

Foreign reporting companies that register on or after March 26, 2025 must file within 30 calendar days of the earlier of two dates: when the company receives actual notice of its registration, or when the secretary of state first publicly announces the registration.² Put that 30-day window on the calendar as soon as registration confirmation arrives.

What to Gather Before You Open the Portal

The form does not save partial progress well, so pull everything together first.

About the Company

Exact legal name from the registration documents
Any trade names or DBAs the company uses⁴
Complete street address of the principal U.S. place of business
Foreign country of formation and the U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction where the company registered, as required at 31 CFR 1010.380⁵
Tax identification number, usually the IRS-issued EIN, or a foreign tax ID if no EIN exists

About Each Beneficial Owner

A beneficial owner is any individual who owns or controls at least 25 percent of the ownership interests or exercises substantial control over the company.⁴ Substantial control covers senior officers, anyone with authority to appoint or remove officers or a majority of directors, anyone who makes important decisions for the company, and anyone with other significant influence over its operations.³

For each beneficial owner, collect:

Full legal name
Date of birth
Current residential address (not a P.O. box or business address)
An identifying number from a non-expired U.S. passport, U.S. driver’s license, or state or local government ID card; a foreign passport is acceptable only if none of the other three exist⁴
A clear digital image of that ID showing the photo and unique number

The image must be JPG, JPEG, PNG, or PDF and no larger than 4 MB.⁶ Phone photos usually work if the text and photo are legible; if the file is too large, reduce the resolution or run it through a compression tool.

About Company Applicants

Foreign reporting companies that first registered on or after January 1, 2024 must also report company applicants: the person who filed the registration document and, if different, the person who directed that filing. A company reports at most two applicants. Companies that registered before January 1, 2024 do not report applicants at all.⁴ The same personal information and ID image required for beneficial owners applies here.

Filing at boiefiling.fincen.gov

Filing is free. Third-party services charging hundreds of dollars are doing data entry on the same free government form.⁴

Open the Portal

Go to boiefiling.fincen.gov and choose to file a BOIR. You can prepare online in the browser or download and upload a PDF; the online form is easier for most filers. No account is required, though you can sign in with a FinCEN ID if you have one.⁷

Enter Company Details

Type the legal name exactly as it appears on your registration documents. No abbreviations, no added punctuation. Enter the tax identification number, then use the drop-downs to select the foreign country of formation and the U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction where the company registered. Add each trade name in the fields provided.

Add Beneficial Owners

Select the option to add a beneficial owner. Enter the full legal name, date of birth, and residential address exactly as they read on the ID you plan to upload. Use the upload button to attach the ID image, then check the preview. A blurry or cropped image will bounce back later as an inaccuracy. Repeat for each person who meets the threshold; the form takes as many owners as needed.

Add Company Applicants If Required

If your company registered on or after January 1, 2024, fill in the company applicant section using the same fields as the beneficial owner section.

Shortcut: Use a FinCEN ID

If a beneficial owner or applicant already has a FinCEN ID, entering that 12-digit number auto-fills their personal information and skips the ID upload entirely.⁸ It is worth requesting one at fincenid.fincen.gov if the same individual appears on reports for multiple companies.⁹

Submit and Save Your Confirmation

After the last section, the portal shows every entry for a final review. Scan every field. A transposed digit in a date of birth or a misspelled street becomes an inaccuracy you have to correct later. Read the certification statement, affirm the information is true, correct, and complete, and click submit.

A confirmation screen appears immediately on a successful submission, showing a unique BOIR ID that acts as your tracking number. Do not close the browser until you see that confirmation and a status of “accepted.” Download the transcript the portal offers; it lists everything you submitted and the timestamp, and it is your proof of compliance if FinCEN asks later.

Updating or Correcting a Report

BOI reporting is not a one-time filing. If any reported information about the company or its beneficial owners changes, file an updated report within 30 days. Common triggers include a beneficial owner’s move, a change in ownership percentages, or a new person gaining substantial control. Changes to company applicant information do not require an update.⁴

If you find an error in a report you already filed, submit a corrected report within 30 days of realizing it.⁴ The Corporate Transparency Act includes a safe harbor: voluntary corrections filed within 90 days of the original filing deadline carry no penalty for the initial error.³ That window runs from the deadline, not from when you actually filed, so review your submission soon after sending it.

Updates and corrections use the same portal. Choose the updated or corrected report option instead of initial, and enter the BOIR ID from the earlier filing so the system links them together.

Penalties for Not Filing

A person who willfully fails to file, files false information, or fails to correct a known inaccuracy faces civil fines of up to $591 per day the violation continues. The base statutory penalty is $500 per day and adjusts for inflation each year.⁴ At roughly $18,000 per month, the meter runs quickly.

Criminal penalties apply to intentional violations: up to $10,000 in fines, up to two years in prison, or both.⁴ Every one of these penalties keys on the word “willfully.” Honest mistakes fixed inside the 90-day safe harbor stay out of that territory; ignoring the requirement after you know it applies is what these penalties are aimed at.

1
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting
2
Federal Register. Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirement Revision and Deadline Extension
3
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Small Entity Compliance Guide
4
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Frequently Asked Questions
5
eCFR. 31 CFR 1010.380 – Reports of Beneficial Ownership Information
6
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. BOIR E-File PDF Step-by-Step Instructions
7
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. BOI E-FILING
8
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. FinCEN Identifier Application Filing Instructions
9
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. FinCEN ID