On July 24, 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued one new FAQ and updated another, providing additional guidance on the type of tax identification numbers a disregarded entity should report and on how to obtain a tax identification number. Excerpted below is this new guidance. The complete list of FinCEN’s BOI reporting FAQs are available from FinCEN’s website here. https://www.fincen.gov/boi-faqs
Q. What type of tax identification number should be reported by a reporting company that is disregarded for U.S. tax purposes?
A. An entity that is disregarded for U.S. tax purposes—a “disregarded entity”—is not treated as an entity separate from its owner for U.S. tax purposes. Instead of a disregarded entity being taxed separately, the entity’s owner reports the entity’s income and deductions as part of the owner’s federal tax return.
A disregarded entity must report beneficial ownership information (BOI) to FinCEN if it is a reporting company. Such a reporting company must provide one of the following types of taxpayer identification numbers (TINs) on its BOI report if it has been issued a TIN: an Employer Identification Number (EIN); a Social Security Number (SSN); or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). If a foreign reporting company has not been issued a TIN, it must provide a tax identification number issued by a foreign jurisdiction and the name of that jurisdiction.
Consistent with rules of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding the use of TINs, different types of tax identification numbers may be reported for disregarded entities under different circumstances:
- If the disregarded entity has its own EIN, it may report that EIN as its TIN. If the disregarded entity does not have an EIN, it is not required to obtain one to meet its BOI reporting requirements so long as it can instead provide another type of TIN or, if a foreign reporting company not issued a TIN, a tax identification number issued by a foreign jurisdiction and the name of that jurisdiction.
- If the disregarded entity is a single-member limited liability company (LLC) or otherwise has only one owner that is an individual with an SSN or ITIN, the disregarded entity may report that individual’s SSN or ITIN as its TIN.
- If the disregarded entity is owned by a U.S. entity that has an EIN, the disregarded entity may report that other entity’s EIN as its TIN.
- If the disregarded entity is owned by another disregarded entity or a chain of disregarded entities, the disregarded entity may report the TIN of the first owner up the chain of disregarded entities that has a TIN as its TIN.
As explained above, a disregarded entity that is a reporting company must report one of these tax identification numbers when reporting beneficial ownership information to FinCEN.