BREAKING NEWS: BOI Injunction Lifted

Article | February 20, 2025

Authored by Johnson & Sheldon, PLLC

On Tuesday February 18th a federal district court in Texas lifted the last remaining nationwide injunction that had halted the BOI filing requirement. The court order in Samantha Smith and Robert Means v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, No. 6:24-CV-336 (E.D. Texas 1/7/25), granted a Department of Justice (DOJ) request for a stay of the court's nationwide injunction. In lifting its injunction in the Smith case, the district court cited the Supreme Court's Jan. 23 decision in McHenry v. Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc., No. 4:24-CV-478 (E.D. Texas 12/3/24), to lift a nationwide injunction in a separate Texas case challenging the BOI filing requirements.

Most small businesses are now required to file beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports and will now have until March 21 to do so with the federal district court now lifting the last remaining nationwide injunction that halted the filings, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said Wednesday. FinCEN, which enforces BOI requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), P.L. 116-283, said it would extend the filing deadline for initial, updated, and/or corrected BOI reports to March 21. However, reporting companies that were previously given a deadline later than March 21 may file their initial BOI report by that later deadline. For example, if a company's reporting deadline is in April 2025 because it qualifies for certain disaster relief extensions, it should follow the April deadline.

FinCEN also said in its alert that it would use the 30 days to "assess its options to further modify deadlines, while prioritizing reporting for those entities that pose the most significant national security risks. FinCEN also intends to initiate a process this year to revise the BOI reporting rule to reduce burden for lower-risk entities, including many U.S. small businesses."

FinCEN also said it would provide an update "of any further modification of this deadline, recognizing that reporting companies may need additional time to comply with their BOI reporting obligations once this update is provided."

Please contact our office if you want Johnson & Sheldon to prepare and file your business BOI report.