What is a Company Applicant under the Corporate Transparency Act?

The Corporate Transparency Act (or CTA) took effect on January 1^st of this year, and it requires most small businesses to report three pieces of Beneficial Ownership Information (or BOI) to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (or FinCEN).

The three pieces of BOI are the reporting company information, the beneficial ownership information, and the company applicant information. In this article, we’ll focus on company applicant information.

Company Applicant Information

First of all, what is a company applicant? Under the CTA, a company applicant is defined as:

• The individual who directly files the document to create or register the reporting company; and
• The individual who is primarily responsible for directing or controlling such filing, if more than one individual is involved in the filing.

Under this definition, a company applicant can be two people. The first is the person who forms the entity. And the second is the person who directs the entity’s formation.

Because we here at Corporate Direct form entities and will submit these BOI reports for our clients, we are deemed to be a company applicant. However, our client is also a company applicant, because they are the ones who direct the entity’s formation.

Which entities must submit this Company Applicant Information?

The CTA only requires this information for entities formed after January 1^st, 2024. So, if you have an entity that was formed in 2023 or earlier, you will not need to report the company applicant information. But you will still need to file the BOI report.

What must Company Applicants submit to FinCEN?

If your company was formed in 2024 or later, you will need to submit the following four pieces of company applicant information to FinCEN:

• The company applicant’s name
• The company applicant’s birthdate
• A business or residential street address, and
• An unexpired passport or driver’s license (with an image and a unique identifying number)

If you’re a real estate investor or business owner who forms an entity after January 1^st, 2024, you will need to report this company applicant information to FinCEN. Beware of companies who will file your articles with the state but won’t file their information with the feds. After all, they are breaking the law.

Fortunately, we here at Corporate Direct can report this information for you. For more information on the CTA and its reporting requirements, you can schedule a free 15-minute consultation with one of our incorporating specialists by clicking the link here: https://corporatedirect.com/schedule/