Do I have to file a BOI report for my LLC before 2025? Need urgent help!

Wait, I need to send a copy of my driver's license to some government agency I've never heard of before? This sounds sketchy. How do we know this isn't a scam to collect personal info?

Do S-corps need to file this too? Or just LLCs? I have a small business that was originally an LLC but we converted to S-corp status last year for tax benefits.

The BOI filing requirement is legitimate and is being implemented by FinCEN, which is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. It's not a scam - it's federal law. You'll submit this information through their secure filing system. The Corporate Transparency Act was actually passed in 2021, but the implementation is happening now. Yes, S-corporations are also required to file the BOI report. The requirement applies to most corporations, LLCs, and similar entities formed by filing documents with a secretary of state or similar office. There are some exemptions for certain types of larger companies that are already heavily regulated, but most small businesses will need to file.

Does this tool actually help you submit the filing or just tell you what to do? I'm super overwhelmed by this whole process.

How much does it cost though? Their website doesn't seem to have clear pricing info and I'm suspicious of services that hide their fees until you're already invested in the process.

The tool doesn't submit the filing for you - you still need to go through the FinCEN portal for that - but it analyzes your documents and gives you personalized guidance for your specific situation, which saved me tons of research time. They use a credit system where you pay only for what you use rather than a subscription. I found it to be very reasonable for the amount of time it saved me and the peace of mind it gave me that I was doing everything correctly. I can't give exact pricing as it depends on your specific needs and documents.

How does this actually work though? Like do they patch you through to the call or what? I'm confused about how a service can wait on hold for me.

This sounds like BS honestly. The government doesn't just let random third parties connect calls to them for security reasons. I don't believe this actually works for government agencies.

The way it works is they use an automated system to call and navigate through the phone menu, then when a real person answers, they connect that call to your phone. It's like having a virtual assistant make the call for you, but automated. The call gets transferred directly to you once a human is on the line. This absolutely works with government agencies - that's literally their specialty. They don't need special access or anything; they're just making the call and transferring it once someone answers. The government agency has no idea a service was used to initiate the call. I was skeptical too before I tried it, but it worked perfectly with FinCEN.

You HAVE to use your residential address on the BOI form. I tried using my business address and my application got rejected. Had to resubmit with my home address. The whole point of this law is transparency about who actually owns these companies, so they're strict about it.

Well that sucks but thanks for the info. I guess I'll have to use my home address then. Just feels like a privacy invasion when I've been so careful about keeping my home address separate from my business for so long.

For existing companies formed before January 1, 2024, you don't need to report company applicant information at all - just the beneficial owners. If your LLC was formed in 2020, you only need to report yourself as the beneficial owner, not your accountant who helped set it up. If your LLC had been formed after January 1, 2024, then yes, you would need to include your accountant as a company applicant since they filed the formation documents for you.

Thank you so much! That's a huge relief - my accountant retired and moved to Florida so I wasn't sure how I was going to get all his information for the filing.