A new law that’s taking effect next year is going to require millions of small businesses to begin filing disclosures about their true ownership with the Treasury Department or face stiff penalties, and most are unaware of it.
As a result of the Corporate Transparency Act of 2021, corporations, LLCs and other entities formed under state law (domestic reporting companies) or similar entities formed under foreign law and registered to do business in the U.S. (foreign reporting companies) must report their beneficial ownership to FinCEN — the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
The reason is that kleptocrats, human rights abusers and other corrupt actors have used complex and opaque corporate structures, including shell companies, to hide and launder the proceeds of their corrupt activities.