Small business owners need to act now to avoid big federal penalties

Small business owners face severe penalties if they don’t report to the federal government by year’s end.

Thousands of Ohioans may not realize they are subject to a new reporting process mandated under the Corporate Transparency Act, which went into effect in January 2024.

For most eligible businesses, the filing deadline is Jan. 1, 2025, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“Those who fail to file by this deadline — or fail to update this information if needed — could face up to two years imprisonment and fines up to $10,000, in addition to civil penalties of up to $591 per day,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce website reads.

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‘If you filed something with the secretary of state or similar office’

The Corporate Transparency Act originally caught the attention of Ohio business owners when it became law in January 2021, said Roger Miller of Mizick Miller & Company, an accounting firm that serves clients throughout North Central Ohio.

But then three years passed before the new law became effective.

“People really didn’t know about it until the end of last year,” Miller said. “It was out there, but no one really knew much about it.”

Many of the state’s small business owners still don’t know if they’re required to report, according to Zach Chatlain, a CPA with Mizick Miller.

“If you filed something with the secretary of state or similar office to create your entity, you’re required to file,” Chatlain said.

That means even an owner of a single-member LLC is required to file, along with all corporations (including S corporations) and larger LLCs.

‘People just create their own LLC and we don’t know’

Registering a home business with the secretary of state is a simple process for most Ohioans.

“I get new clients coming in all the time that already did it on their own,” Chatlain said. “They go out there and get their own LLC automatically when they start a business or when they start selling lemonade. That’s kind of what everyone does now is just go get an LLC real quick.”

Some people forgot they registered a small business, and others never think to tell their attorney or accountant they had done so.

“People just create their own LLC and we don’t know,” Miller said. “We don’t know they exist because they’re still filing under their Social Security number.”

A lot of attorneys and accountants have warned their clients about the looming Corporate Transparency Act deadline, but they can only talk to the ones they know about.

For the accountants at Mizick Miller, small businesses make up about 90% of their clientele. About half of those companies are one-person operations, like maids and landscapers, who had no idea the federal law was bearing down on them.

‘We’re recommending even if they’re inactive to file’

Businesses that meet the reporting criteria must submit a Beneficial Ownership Information Report to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The law was created “to combat illicit activity including tax fraud, money laundering, and financing for terrorism by capturing more ownership information for specific U.S. businesses operating in or accessing the country’s market,” the chamber website explained.

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