What small businesses and owners need to know about the August 2026 final rule.
As of August 11, 2026, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule to permanently remove the Beneficial Ownership Information reporting requirement.
The Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) refers to identifying information about the individuals who directly or indirectly own or control a company.
In our last update, March 21, 2025, we shared the status at that time — after a period of confusion, delay, legal activity, and appeals, plus the shifting deadlines to report — related to the Corporate Transparency Act’s Beneficial Ownership Information reporting requirements.
Corporate Transparency Act Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements – Timeline
In April 2024, we apprised you of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) that had become law as of January 1, 2024, and which required most small corporations, companies, and limited partnerships to register “beneficial ownership information” (or “BOI”) reflecting the ownership and management structure of the entity with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (or “FinCEN”). The purported aim of the Act was to aid law enforcement’s ability to find information regarding small or “closely-held” businesses, and it was enacted as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020.
December 2024 saw an injunction out of a Texas District Court, followed by a block of the injunction by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. This allowed FinCEN to enforce the CTA and its Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirements, although at that time FinCEN shifted the reporting deadline from 12/31/24 to 1/13/25. By December 27, 2024, a Fifth Circuit decision reinstated the nationwide injunction, blocking the BOI reporting requirements. Meanwhile…the Presidency shifted from the Biden Administration to the Trump Administration in the new year.
By March 2025, the Treasury Department had decided it would not enforce the CTA’s BOI reporting requirement, and it seemed that penalties would not be enforced; the reporting deadline had moved to 3/21/2025.
Fast-forward to August 11, 2026 and the posting on FinCEN’s own website acknowledging that it would issue a final rule to permanently remove the requirement “for U.S. companies and U.S. persons to report beneficial ownership information to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act.” The final rule became effective once published in the Federal Register, on August 14, 2026.
Further, FinCEN announced it would also “delete previously reported information by U.S. persons — now exempt from the reporting requirements…foreign entities that are reporting companies will still be required to report BOI for foreign individuals.”
See the FinCEN web page for the Treasury press release, FAQs, and further details.
Family-Owned and Small Businesses Should Remain Alert
The Corporate Transparency Act remains active statutory law passed by Congress. Thus, it is possible that a future administration might reverse the regulatory exemptions and reinstate the reporting mandates. Small business advocate and author Carol Roth along with groups like the S-Corporation Association celebrated the final rule and database deletion as a massive win for Main Street. However, advocates emphasize: Congress should officially codify these protections into law (such as through the proposed Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act (H.R. 425)), so that future administrations cannot reverse the change.
Should you have further questions, please contact your CPA. In the meantime, for this and other legal advising, our attorneys are available – including our Corporate and Business Law team.
