Current status (as of June 2026): If your business was formed in the United States, you almost certainly do not need to file a Beneficial Ownership Information Report (BOIR) — and you should not pay anyone to do it, including us. Under FinCEN‘s March 26, 2025 interim final rule, US-formed entities and US persons are exempt, and only foreign reporting companies are still required to file.
We sell a $99 done-for-you BOIR filing service. So you’d expect this page to tell you that you need it. Most pages selling BOIR filing still do exactly that — they wave around old “$500-a-day, file now” warnings to people who no longer owe anything. We’re not going to do that. The honest answer is that the rules changed in 2025, and most US business owners can close this tab and get on with their day.
Here’s a 60-second self-check before there’s any mention of paying us a cent. Most of you will find out you’re done after the first section.
The honest verdict, with the dates
On March 26, 2025, FinCEN issued an interim final rule (Federal Register document 2025-05199) that rewrote who has to file. The short version:
- US-created entities and US persons are exempt. If your LLC, corporation, or other entity was formed by filing with a US state or tribal office, the federal BOIR requirement no longer applies to you.
- Only “foreign reporting companies” still file. That means entities formed under the law of a foreign country that then registered to do business in a US state.
- FinCEN will not enforce against domestic companies. The enforcement of penalties against US-formed reporting companies and US persons has been suspended.
- If you already filed in 2024, you don’t have to undo it. Domestic filers don’t need to amend or delete the reports they submitted earlier.
To be clear about what didn’t change: the Corporate Transparency Act itself is still on the books. The 11th Circuit upheld the statute in 2025, and a final rule is still pending as of June 2026 — so the interim rule above is the current law. You can read FinCEN’s own announcement that it removed the reporting requirement for US companies and US persons, and the full text of the interim final rule in the Federal Register.
If a website, mailer, or video is still telling you that “all business owners” must file or face “$591 a day,” it’s working from rules that were overtaken in March 2025. Don’t act on it.
The 3-path self-qualifier — which one are you?
Pick the branch that matches how your entity came into existence. That single fact decides almost everything.
Path 1 — Your business was formed in the US (this is most of you)
If you created your company by filing formation paperwork with a US state — an LLC in Texas, a corporation in Delaware, and so on — you are exempt from the federal BOIR requirement. You owe nothing. There is nothing to file, no deadline to beat, and no fee to pay. Don’t pay us, and don’t pay anyone else, to file something the law no longer requires of you.
Two things worth doing anyway, both free:
- Verify your own status straight from the source. FinCEN keeps a plain-language explainer on its BOI information hub and a running BOI FAQ. Reading the current FAQ yourself takes a few minutes and beats trusting any vendor — us included.
- Relax about your 2024 filing, if you made one. A lot of US owners rushed to file in 2024 before the rules shifted. You don’t need to delete it, amend it, or do anything else with it now.
The one thing to stay alert to: scam mail and email aimed at exempt owners like you. More on how to spot it below.
Path 2 — Your company was formed abroad and registered to do business in the US
This is the audience the requirement still applies to. If your entity was formed under the laws of a foreign country and then registered to do business in a US state — a “foreign reporting company” — you do still file federally. Two deadline situations from the rule:
- Registered before March 26, 2025: the report was due by April 25, 2025.
- Registering on or after March 26, 2025: the report is due within 30 days of your registration becoming effective.
One nuance that trips people up: foreign reporting companies are not required to report US persons among their beneficial owners. So if your US-based owners or managers were the part you were worried about, that piece is narrower than you might expect.
You can still file this yourself for free (see the comparison below). This is also the one scenario where a $99 done-for-you filing genuinely earns its keep — if you’d rather not navigate the federal portal, gather the right identifiers, and track the deadline yourself, that’s a fair reason to hand it off.
Path 3 — You may have a state-level filing
The federal exemption doesn’t automatically erase state rules, and a few states have built their own beneficial-ownership regimes. New York is the one to watch.
The New York LLC Transparency Act took effect January 1, 2026. After the governor’s veto narrowed it, it reaches only LLCs not formed in the US (foreign LLCs); US-formed LLCs are exempt from it. Existing foreign LLCs covered by the act have until December 31, 2026 to report. For the specifics, two law-firm explainers lay it out: Holland & Knight on the limited reach of the NY LLC Transparency Act and Sidley on how the veto exempts US-formed LLCs.
As with the federal filing, state self-filing is free where it applies. A paid service here is optional convenience or ongoing monitoring — not a government requirement to pay anyone.
Self-file for free vs. $99 done-for-you — the honest comparison
Let’s say the rules do apply to you (Path 2 or a state filing). The first thing to know is that filing it yourself costs nothing. The official FinCEN e-filing portal at boiefiling.fincen.gov is free. So is any state portal where a state filing applies. A service like ours is selling convenience and follow-up — never access to the form.
| Self-file (free) | $99 done-for-you | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $0 — the FinCEN portal is free | $99, one time |
| Who it’s for | Confident filers with simple ownership | Foreign filers / state filers who’d rather hand it off |
| Time & effort | You gather the identifiers and complete the form | We prepare and submit it for you |
| Monitoring & amendments | You track changes and file updates yourself | Optional ongoing monitoring and updates |
| When it’s worth paying | Almost always, if your filing is straightforward | When the hassle, or staying current, is worth $99 to you |
Straight answer: if you’re a foreign reporting company with simple ownership and you’re comfortable with a government web form, self-file and keep your $99. Pay for a service only to offload the hassle, or because a BOIR is a one-time filing but updates are due within 30 days of any change to your information — and you’d rather someone watch for that than do it yourself.
How to spot a BOIR scam
Red flags to remember: the government doesn’t mail or email you an invoice for a “filing fee.” Self-filing is free. Anyone charging more than about $50 and framing it as a mandatory government fee is a warning sign, not a service.
The exemption created a gap that scammers moved into. The Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General has warned about fraudulent mailings that reference a fake “Form 4022” or “Form 5102” and a made-up agency called the “US Business Regulations Dept.” There is no such form and no such department. You can read the official Treasury OIG fraud alerts for the current warnings.
Watch for these specifically:
- An official-looking letter or email with a “filing fee” and a due date. Real federal BOIR filing is free; there is no government fee to pay.
- References to “Form 4022,” “Form 5102,” or the “US Business Regulations Dept.” These are fabricated.
- A charge well above ~$50 sold as a mandatory government cost. That’s a markup on a free filing at best.
- Recurring charges with no refund. Owners have reported paid sites charging anywhere from $99 to $349, billed on repeat with no refund, documented across Trustpilot, the BBB, and consumer Q&A forums.
If you got one of these and you’re a US-formed business, the right move is almost always to ignore it — you’re exempt and you owe nothing.
Frequently asked questions
Do I still need to file a BOIR in 2026?
If your business was formed in the US, no. Under the March 26, 2025 interim final rule, US-formed entities and US persons are exempt. Only foreign reporting companies still file.
Do US LLCs have to file a BOI report?
No. An LLC formed by filing with a US state is exempt from the federal BOIR requirement as of the 2025 rule.
Who is exempt now?
All entities created in the US and all US persons. The requirement now applies only to foreign-formed companies that registered to do business in a US state.
Do foreign-owned or foreign-formed LLCs still file?
It depends on where the entity was formed, not who owns it. A company formed abroad and registered in the US (a foreign reporting company) still files. A US-formed LLC that happens to have foreign owners is exempt. Note that foreign reporting companies don’t report their US-person beneficial owners.
Is BOIR filing free? How much does it cost?
Filing directly with FinCEN at boiefiling.fincen.gov is free. A paid service charges for convenience — our done-for-you filing is $99 — but no one needs to pay to access the form.
Are BOIR filing services a scam? Do I have to pay $99 to file?
You never have to pay anyone to file — it’s free to do yourself, and most US owners don’t need to file at all. Some paid sites are predatory (recurring charges, no refunds, fake “fees”). A legitimate service is optional help for the people who genuinely still file; it’s a choice, not a requirement.
I filed in 2024 — do I need to delete or update it?
If you’re a US-formed business, no. Domestic filers don’t need to amend or delete reports filed before the rule changed.
Do I have to file every year?
No. A BOIR is a one-time filing, not an annual one. For those who do file, updates are due within 30 days of a change to the reported information.
Do I report to my state (for example, New York)?
Possibly, if your entity is a foreign (non-US-formed) LLC. The NY LLC Transparency Act took effect January 1, 2026, but after the governor’s veto it reaches only non-US-formed LLCs; existing foreign LLCs have until December 31, 2026. US-formed LLCs are exempt from it.
Is the BOIR letter or email I received real?
Treat any “filing fee” letter or email with suspicion. The government doesn’t bill you for BOIR filing, and references to “Form 4022,” “Form 5102,” or the “US Business Regulations Dept.” are signs of a scam. Check the Treasury OIG fraud alerts if you’re unsure.
The bottom line
Most people reading this are US-formed business owners, which means the honest answer is the easy one: you don’t need a BOIR filing service, you don’t need to file, and you shouldn’t pay anyone. That’s the truth in June 2026, and we’d rather tell you that than sell you something you don’t need.
If you’re a foreign reporting company, have a New York (or other state) foreign-LLC filing, or you simply want someone to handle the filing and watch for updates so you don’t have to, that’s the narrow group our $99 done-for-you service is actually built for. No countdown, no scare tactics — if that’s you and you’d like the hassle taken off your plate, talk to us before you pay anyone. If it’s not you, you’re already done.
Sources
- FinCEN — FinCEN removes beneficial ownership reporting requirements for US companies and US persons
- Federal Register — Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirement Revision and Deadline Extension (interim final rule, 2025-05199)
- FinCEN — Beneficial Ownership Information FAQs
- FinCEN — Beneficial Ownership Information hub
- FinCEN — BOI E-Filing portal (free)
- Treasury OIG — Fraud alerts
- IRS — Report beneficial owner information
- Holland & Knight — New York LLC Transparency Act reporting (limited reach)
- Sidley — NY LLC Transparency Act took effect, but governor’s veto exempts US-formed LLCs
