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- Written by: DENNIS FORDHAM
On Jan. 1, 2024, the Corporate Transparency Act, or CTA, is becoming effective US law.
The CTA requires many domestic businesses and foreign businesses doing business in the US to report Beneficial Owner Information, or BOI, to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or “FinCen,” regarding the company itself and its beneficial owners, i.e., the individuals who ultimately own or control the company.
FinCen collects the BOI to combat various criminal activities, including money laundering and terrorism, that involve businesses, by sharing the BOI information with law enforcement authorities.
Explaining the CTA involves five major areas: (1) Reporting companies; (2) beneficial owners whose information is provided; (3) boi information provided; (4) how to report; and (5) when to report.
“A reporting company is (1) any corporation, limited liability company, or other similar entity that was created in the United States by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or similar office (in which case it is a domestic reporting company), or any legal entity that has been registered to do business [in the United States].”
There are important exceptions for numerous types of businesses. The point of the CTA is to get information about smaller businesses that are not otherwise reporting information about themselves. Thus, small LLC’s and corporations are required to report.
Beneficial owners include: (1) “any individual who, directly or indirectly, either exercises substantial control over a reporting company or owns or controls at least 25% of the ownership interests of a reporting company; and (2) “an individual who exercises substantial control over a reporting company if the individual meets any of four general criteria: the individual is a senior officer; the individual has authority to appoint or remove certain officers or a majority of directors of the reporting company; the individual is an important decision-maker; or the individual has any other form of substantial control over the reporting company.”
A trustee and other persons involved with a trust can be beneficial owners of an LLC or corporation if the trust owns or controls at least 25% of the ownership interest in the reporting company.
That is, the trustee, some beneficiaries and the settlor of the trust may all be beneficial owners who must report information to FinCen.
Each BOI report must include information about the reporting company and its beneficial owners. “The beneficial owners must report to FinCEN their name, date of birth, address, and unique identifier number from a recognized issuing jurisdiction and a photo of that document.
If an individual decides to file their information to FinCEN directly, they may be issued a “FinCEN identifier” which can be provided on a BOI report instead of the required information.”
The use of a FinCen identifier number by business owners is a big step towards streamlining the process by making the owners responsible for directly reporting their information to FinCen.
A reporting company is expected to report the BOI information to FinCen by means of a secure portal on FinCen’s website. The portal will begin accepting BOI reports on Jan. 1, 2024.
Existing businesses have one year to file their first BOI report. Businesses that are established between Jan. 1, 2024, and Jan. 1, 2025, have ninety (90) days to file their report (measured from the date they were incorporated or allowed to do business); and business established, or allowed to do business in the US after Jan. 1, 2025, have thirty (30) days to file their BOI report.
BOI reports must be updated as necessary. However, if a business owner has a FinCEN number then the burden is directly on the owner to update his or her information.
For further information and assistance visit FinCen’s website, www.fincen.gov/boi.
The foregoing brief discussion is not legal advice. Consult a qualified attorney or accountant for guidance.
Dennis A. Fordham, attorney, is a State Bar-Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, Calif. He can be reached at
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- Written by: NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
To celebrate the holiday season, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured the galaxy known as UGC 8091, which resembles a sparkling festive snow globe.
With a dazzling array of wavelengths of light captured by filters on Hubble's premier scientific instruments, the millions of stars in this galaxy are being explored in more depth than ever before.
UGC 8091, also known as GR 8, lies around seven million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. Unlike other galaxies whose stars take a more orderly appearance, UGC 8091 is classed by astronomers as an irregular galaxy.
It's not hard to see why — the stars that make up this celestial gathering look more like a brightly shining tangle of string lights than a galaxy.
Some irregular galaxies are thought to have become tangled by tumultuous internal activity, while others are known to have formed by interactions with neighboring galaxies.
The result is a class of galaxies with a diverse array of sizes and shapes, including the diffuse scatter of stars that is this galaxy.
In particular, UGC 8091 is a dwarf irregular galaxy, meaning that it only contains around one billion stars. That's a huge number of lights, but not for a galaxy: our own Milky Way galaxy is thought to encompass over 100 billion stars, and other galaxies can have trillions!
Dwarf galaxies often orbit larger galaxies, and their low masses leave them vulnerable to being disturbed and consumed by their bigger neighbors, a process which produces twisted-up dwarf irregulars like UGC 8091.
This type of galaxy is thought to have similar characteristics to the enormously old and distant galaxies seen by astronomers in deep-field images.
It’s hoped that investigating the composition of dwarf galaxies and their stars, particularly their low metallicity, will help to uncover the evolutionary links between these ancient galaxies and more modern galaxies like our own.
To do this, astronomers have been carefully examining the many-coloured stars of UGC 8091. Different features of the galaxy can be picked out by using filters to restrict the light entering Hubble's instruments to very specific wavelength ranges. Those filtered images can then be recombined to make a full-color image — an astonishing twelve filters combine to produce this image, with light from the mid-ultraviolet right through to the red end of the visible spectrum contributing.
The blossoming patches of red represent light emitted by excited hydrogen molecules in hot, energetic stars that have formed in recent starbursts. The other sparkles on show in this image are a mix of older stars.
The data used in this image date from 2006 to 2021, and were taken by two of Hubble’s most advanced instruments: the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys.
Among other things, the observing programmes sought to investigate the role of low-mass galaxies, like UGC 8091, in reionizing the early Universe, and to examine the results of star formation in low-metallicity galaxies.
Despite how small and misshapen they look, dwarf irregular galaxies turn out to hold a great deal of information about our Universe — no less than any of the other celestial lights in our sky.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
At its Dec. 5 meeting, the council unanimously accepted staff’s proposal to award a $128,538.59 contract to Skiles & Associates for the Carnegie Library Improvements Project.
The project is for interior renovations to the upstairs of the Classical Revival style building, which first opened its doors on Feb. 18, 1918, and served as the city’s library until 1985.
Those repairs will include wall repair and painting, insulating and installing a new ceiling, replacing damaged floorboards, new floor finishing, new recessed lights, battery powered emergency lights, and installation of a new chandelier and ceiling fan.
The city engineer’s estimate for the project was $113,895,
Public Works Director Ron Ladd said the city put the project out to bid for six weeks and received two bids.
The low bid was from Skiles for $128,538.59, while Next Generation Builders submitted a bid totaling $143,600.
Previous improvements included work on the first floor, such as the new elevator.
The work is expected to start in February, with completion set for June.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
The United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service has started receiving official notices from states and tribal nations that intend to operate the new, permanent summer nutrition assistance program for children, known as Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer — one of many strategies the department is leveraging to tackle child hunger when schools are closed.
California, Cherokee Nation, Chickasaw Nation, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia are among the first to confirm their plans to implement Summer EBT in 2024, the program’s inaugural year, and many more are expected to follow:
Through Summer EBT, states, territories, and certain tribal nations can provide grocery benefits to families with eligible school-aged children during the summer months.
Once implemented nationwide, Summer EBT is expected to benefit more than 29 million children, reducing food insecurity and helping kids get the nutrition they need to grow, learn, and thrive.
“Summer EBT provides an unprecedented opportunity to reduce child hunger during the summer months,” said Cindy Long, administrator of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. “FNS is thrilled to see trailblazing states and tribes step up and make early commitments to expanding summer nutrition benefits for children in their communities. We look forward to working with all states and eligible tribal nations on this important effort — helping ensure children across our nation get the nutrition they need year-round.”
Millions of children participate in USDA’s school breakfast and lunch programs during the school year. However, when schools are closed, kids lose access to these healthy meals and are at higher risk of food and nutrition insecurity.
Reflecting a bipartisan effort to close the summer hunger gap, Congress passed legislation in late 2022 making Summer EBT the first new federal nutrition program in decades.
Summer EBT will support families with $40 each summer month per eligible child to buy food at grocery stores, farmers markets, or other authorized retailers, similar to how SNAP benefits are used.
USDA tested Summer EBT as a demonstration project in select states and tribal nations over multiple years.
Rigorous evaluations showed that providing these benefits decreased the number of kids with very low food security by about one-third and supported healthier diets.
This new program will work hand-in-hand with other USDA nutrition programs to connect every eligible child with nutritious food during the summer.
In addition to Summer EBT, USDA summer nutrition programs include group meal service at central locations, such as schools, camps, and community centers, as well as the option to provide grab-n-go or home-delivered meals in many rural communities.
Summer EBT is an additional benefit and does not replace these summer meal programs. Families are encouraged to participate in all summer nutrition programs available to them.
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service works to end hunger and improve food and nutrition security through a suite of 16 nutrition assistance programs, such as the school breakfast and lunch programs, WIC and SNAP.
Together, these programs serve one in four Americans over the course of a year, promoting consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable food essential to optimal health and well-being.
