The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced its intention to propose legislation requiring reporting of beneficial ownership at the time a new entity is formed. According to Treasury:

 “The Administration is committed to working with Congress to pass meaningful legislation that would require companies to know and report adequate and accurate beneficial ownership information at the time of a company’s creation, so that the information can be made available to law enforcement.  As part of the legislation outlined today, companies formed within the United States would be required to file beneficial ownership information with the Treasury Department, and face penalties for failure to comply.  The misuse of companies to hide beneficial ownership is a significant weakness in the U.S. anti-money laundering/counter financing of terrorism regime that can only be resolved by Congressional action.  The new draft legislation is an amended version of an Administration Budget proposal, reflecting discussions with Congress, law enforcement entities, and others.”

Treasury also announced proposed regulations to require foreign-owned “disregarded entities,” including foreign-owned single-member limited liability companies, to obtain an employer identification number (EIN) with the IRS. According to Treasury disregarded entities can be used to shield the foreign owners of non-U.S. assets or non-U.S. bank accounts. Once these regulations are finalized, they will allow the IRS to determine whether there is any tax liability, and if so, how much, and to share information with other tax authorities.