The Ohio Society of CPAs and all state CPA societies joined an AICPA letter to FinCEN on April 3 raising concerns with the rollout of the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirements.
The letter raises concerns regarding the Federal District Court ruling in Alabama (NSBA v. Yellen) on March 1 which found the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA – the law which underpins the FinCEN BOI regulation) to be unconstitutional. The decision affects only the plaintiffs (NSBA and its members), so its applicability is very limited, and FinCEN appealed the court decision on March 11.
In response to the court ruling, the letter to FinCEN recommends that they suspend enforcement of BOI until one year AFTER all judicial activity around NSBA v. Yellen has concluded. FinCEN has made it clear that reporting companies are still required to comply and file beneficial ownership reports.
The Ohio Society of CPAs is in the initial stages of attempting to obtain an opinion from the Ohio Supreme Court if the BOI reporting requirements are considered the unauthorized practice of law (UPL). To this date, no state has issued anything saying it to be UPL yet.
Reminder: Unless a new entity is created, the BOI filing is not due until Jan. 1, 2025.