Do Small Businesses Still Have to File a BOI Report? The 2026 FinCEN Update

By Web Asset House Studio · October 28, 2026

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How we wrote this: A summary of FinCEN's beneficial ownership information page, FAQs and scam alert (linked below), as they read in late October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice. Rules in this area have changed several times, so check FinCEN directly before acting.

Starting January 1, 2024, when the reporting requirements took effect, many small business owners were told they had to file a "beneficial ownership information" (BOI) report with the Treasury Department under the Corporate Transparency Act. That's no longer the case for U.S. companies.

The short answer

FinCEN's BOI page says that under the final rule it issued on August 11, 2026:

U.S. companies are exempt from BOI reporting and no longer have to file BOI reports.
Reporting companies don't need to report BOI for U.S. person beneficial owners or company applicants.
U.S. persons don't need to provide BOI to reporting companies.
U.S. persons who already have a FinCEN ID don't need to update or correct the information they submitted.

FinCEN says the final rule took effect on August 14, 2026. It makes permanent the exemptions first introduced in an interim final rule published on March 26, 2025.

How we got here

Date	What happened (per FinCEN)
March 21, 2025	FinCEN announced an interim final rule removing BOI reporting for U.S. companies and U.S. persons, and said it wouldn't enforce penalties against them
March 26, 2025	Interim final rule published. "Reporting company" redefined to mean only entities formed under foreign law and registered to do business in a U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction
August 11, 2026	Final rule issued, making the exemptions permanent and expanding relief for U.S. persons
August 14, 2026	Final rule effective

Who still files

Under the redefinition, the companies that may still have to report are foreign entities registered to do business in the United States that don't qualify for an exemption. Even they don't have to report U.S. persons as beneficial owners. FinCEN's BOI FAQs cover the exemptions and the filing system for those that remain.

FinCEN's page says all entities created in the United States, including those previously called "domestic reporting companies", are exempt.

Watch for BOI scams

The rule changes created confusion, and scammers have used it. FinCEN's December 2024 alert on fraud schemes describes fake BOI forms that threaten penalties and legal action. They ask victims to mail checks or money orders for "filing fees", or include links, URLs or QR codes that lead to fraudulent payment sites. FinCEN's scams page says FinCEN does not:

Contact members of the public to request payment by phone, text, email or mail.
Send unsolicited email, mail or texts, or call the public.
Demand immediate payment, or ask you to move money to a "safe location".

Be cautious of any message about penalties. To check whether a message is real, FinCEN says to contact it directly through fincen.gov/contact. Report impersonators to Treasury's Office of Inspector General and the FTC. Our guide to business email compromise and phishing covers how these messages are built, and our passwords and MFA guide covers protecting the accounts they target.

What still applies

The federal BOI exemption is separate from your state filing requirements and your IRS obligations, which still apply. The IRS still points new entities to FinCEN's page from its EIN guidance. For those, see how to get an EIN and choosing a business structure.