I'm so paranoid about this government - FINCen Compliance - P.A.G.A.N.

I learned in the footer of a routine email from my attorney early this year about the registration requirement imposed by the Feds for all business entities formed in the US.

The newspeak style acronym is "FinCEN" - operated by a new branch called the "Financial Crimes Enforcement Network".

This page gives an overview: https://www.fincen.gov/boi-faqs#B_1

Basically: if you had (for example) an S-corp or an LLC operating as of January 1, 2024, you have until the deadline of Jan 1, 2025 to file the FinCEN "beneficial ownership" form. Even if (in my case) you dissolve the corporation during the year, since the business was formed before January 1 I am required to file the report.

(If you form the business entity after 1/1/24 you have 90 days to create and file the report.)

I just did this tonight. It's inevitable - there are quite a few scare articles out there by attorneys and CPAs about the draconian consequences of not filing this return. It's also been called unconstitutional. I don't get that: what I entered was the exact same information that is already on file with the secretary of state. Maybe that's the point - get the identity stuff in federal hands, not just state hands.

It's not that it was hard. It was very simple. You list the business entity, its address, its EIN, any trademarks you used, and then your own personal identity information. They don't even ask for an SSN. They ask for a driver's license or other photo ID.

I just had the creeps filling this out. What if I fuck up something simple? What if I didn't consider something they expected?

I don't believe in our system any more and with Trump's experiences and those of others on the right any pretext can be used to manufacture a crime. I feel like FinCEN is more of this. We already have many state and federal agencies to battle crimes. Now they have a new category of "crime" in quotes to target.

In China, the laws contradict each other so that it's impossible not to be in breach of some of them. These breaches are let go. Until you become an inconvenience.

Yes, that is exactly what I meant.

I believe this is a prelude to prosecuting entirely new categories of "crime". Such as inadvertently or naively doing business with the wrong country even when the sale has nothing to do with strategic goods or services. (IE, my LLC buys some part from a Russian guy, then is prosecuted under FinCEN.

Reading up on this new law/regulation, it appears that its demand for registration is focused specifically upon small businesses, LLCs and S-corps. Exactly in the same vein as the new $600 threshold for reporting 1099 income.

There is a large list of exempt business formats that seem to scream for oversight. Here are the exemptions.

1 Securities reporting issuer
2 Governmental authority
3 Bank
4 Credit union
5 Depository institution holding company
6 Money services business
7 Broker or dealer in securities
8 Securities exchange or clearing agency
9 Other Exchange Act registered entity
10 Investment company or investment adviser
11 Venture capital fund adviser
12 Insurance company
13 State-licensed insurance producer
14 Commodity Exchange Act registered entity
15 Accounting firm
16 Public utility
17 Financial market utility
18 Pooled investment vehicle
19 Tax-exempt entity
20 Entity assisting a tax-exempt entity
21 Large operating company
22 Subsidiary of certain exempt entities
23 Inactive entity

I don't blame you for being paranoid. Considering the list of exempt businesses you posted, the Biden/Harris regime is targeting small businesses with this requirement. I don't like that they asked for your driver's license or other photo ID. Why do they need that? It looks like profiling to me.

I don't know why it would be unconstitutional, but it doesn't seem right to me either.

You can look up for yourself "Fincen unconstitutional". The gist of the anti arguments appear to be that the feds are inserting themselves into gathering data on matters that are totally internal to states, namely the granting of business entity certification. The formation of a corporation is supposed to be entirely a state matter. The feds (IRS) get involved in that when a corp or other entity makes revenue and starts paying payroll, they must withhold and file and document federal taxes that are due for that activity.

The IRS has to know what entity you hold for taxation purposes (which itself may not be constitutional but we take for granted.) Law enforcement does not necessarily need to know that ABC owns XYZ LLC.

I think this also plugs any gap of entities with unnamed principals, IE, the notorious Delaware and Nevada companies.

I feel the same as you, it's a very indistinct boundary between fed and state that I don't have the legal understanding to grasp why it is not constitutional.

Neither is the fed bank, neither is Obamacare, neither is relinquishing war powers to the president instead of keeping it in congress.

The short answer is "well, whatever, here we are."

The purview of this law is probably whatever you can do with a corporation that is improper. IE, taking too much profit as pre-FICA dividends and paying yourself a meager fully taxed salary. Before that would amount to an IRS action. Now probably in addition it's a ***FINCEN VIOLATION***.

The federal government is trying to grab too much power over the states and that in itself is scary. Its a new way to get you if they want, I agree. Its intimidation.

Any time I ever had to deal with the government it was a flucked up experience. When I started doing my own taxes after I retired, the IRS actually checked all of my figures and said they were correct. The fact that they sent me a letter confirming that was eye-opening because then I realized that they watch you even if you live on Social Security and have no other income except a very tiny pension.

In a fair system I wouldn't be important at all and neither would you, but like you said "well, whatever, here we are."

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I'm so paranoid about this government - FINCen Compliance (Public Board)

I'm so paranoid about this government - FINCen Compliance

More thoughts about FinCEN

More thoughts about FinCEN

Whatever, here we are

Whatever, here we are