David Geller

Do You Know About This New Government Requirement for Business Owners?

It’s called the “Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirement,” and it’s due by January 1st.

Published

1 year ago

December 9, 2024

David S. Geller Instore December 2024 Issue

I JUST FOUND OUT about this last month and wanted to alert my fellow jewelers. This applies to 90% of you, and if you don’t do this by January 1st, 2025, the U.S. government will fine you $591 a DAY up to $10,000.

It’s not a scam, it’s real.

The U.S. government has started a new requirement for business owners to fill in pertinent information to them, more info on YOU, to help stop the bad guys from money laundering.

Who has to do this?

An LLC, C Corp or S Corp.
If a person has 100% ownership and has control of the company and makes major financial decisions, you need to do this report.
If you have a 25% equity state or more in a company, even if you aren’t the decision maker or work there.
Even if you don’t have any ownership in the company but make most financial decisions in the company, you might be required to fill this in.
If you have filed your company formation with the Secretary of State.

Who doesn’t have to file?

If you have not formed a company with a Secretary of State.
You are an independent contractor, get a 1099 from your companies you do work for and you haven’t set up your company as an LLC or S Corp.

When does this have to be completed?

If your company or entity was formed before 2024, you have from today until January 1st, 2025 to fill in these forms.
If you created your company THIS year, 2024, you have 90 days from the date of formation to file these forms.

I subscribe to a very knowledgeable and easy-to-understand CPA, Hannah. Her website is claracfo.com . And check out her YouTube channel by searching ClaraCFO.

She’s intelligent, explains things clearly and is excellent in Quickbooks as well. Her YouTube channel alerted me to this new requirement from the U.S. government. I asked my CPA firm about this 20 days ago, and they had not heard of it but asked me to send them the information from Hannah, which I’ve done.

Below are two short YouTube videos she’s done on this subject. The first explains who and why you have to fill in the “BOI” reporting on the government website. The second video shows you how to do it and how to complete it with her company.

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>
She emphasizes to not Google “BOI reporting” because you’ll get a gazilion hits and people offering to do this for you for a fee.

Going to the government website to fill in the form is free. I watched Hannah do this and it doesn’t take 10 minutes.

Here’s what you need handy to fill it in:

A picture to upload of a government-issued ID.
Your company EIN number.
Knowledge of your company name exactly as registered with the Secretary of State.

So go watch the two videos and you’ll understand it and how to fill it in. No one wants to pay the $591 a day penalty.

How Howes Diamond Jewelers Closed a Location — and Opened the Door to What's Next

Dan Howes grew up in his family's jewelry business, eventually taking the helm of two locations his father launched in 1964. When it came time to consolidate, he turned to Wilkerson. "It was a pretty easy decision," Howes says, citing the company's strong reputation and a friend's successful experience. Wilkerson's proven sales roadmap delivered — meeting projected financial goals and guiding the process every step of the way. "This is their profession. They have it dialed in."