On February 10, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a ruling relating to filing Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) for sole proprietorships and legal entities operating under a “Doing Business As” (DBA) name. This short two-page ruling outlines how CTRs should be filed, starting on April 6, 2020 (and September 1, 2020 for batch filers).
Sole Proprietor Guidance for CTR Reporting
The ruling gave the following clarifications for CTR reporting on a sole proprietor:
A single Part I “Person Involved in Transaction” should be completed with the individual owner’s name in Items 4 through 7 and 17 (name, gender, date of birth)
In states that allow a husband and wife to operate an unincorporated business as a sole proprietorship, the CTR should include information on the spouse whose social security number is attached to the sole proprietorship
If the individual owner is doing business in his/her own name, then the rest of Part I should be completed reflecting the individual owner’s information.
If the individual owner is operating the business under a different name (i.e. a “doing business as” or “DBA” name), then such name should appear in Item 8 “Alternate name,” and the rest of Part I (other than Items 4-6, 7, and 17 identifying the individual owner) be completed with reference to the DBA name.
Enter only one “Alternate name” for item 8.
If there are multiple alternate names involved in the transactions, additional Part I’s are required to record the additional alternate names.
If the individual owner operates under multiple DBAs, then a separate Part I section should be completed for each different DBA involved in the transactions.
The amount and account number(s) entered in Item 21 “Cash in amount…” or Item 22 “Cash out amount…” will be the amount and account number(s) associated with the specific location corresponding to the reported transaction.
Legal Entity Guidance for CTR Reporting
The ruling gave the following clarifications for CTR reporting on a sole proprietor:
When a CTR is prepared on a legal entity such as a partnership, incorporated business, or limited liability company, a Part I section should be prepared containing the home office/ headquarters data (address, telephone number, identification number, etc.) of the entity.
When multiple entity locations are involved in an aggregated CTR, a separate Part I section should be prepared for each location involved.
Each additional Part I section should include the entity’s legal name in Item 4 and alternate name, if any, in Item 8.
Each additional Part I section will include the location’s address along with all other location or entity data applicable to that location.
The amount and account number(s) entered in Item 21 “Cash in amount…” or Item 22 “Cash out amount…” will be the amount and account number(s) associated with the specific location.
The initial Part I section on the entity home office/headquarters will show the total amount and all account numbers involved in Item 21 or 22.
When there are multiple DBA names involved in the transaction, Item 8 “Alternate name” should be left blank in the entity home office Part I section.
When the entity home office address is the same as the transaction location, only a home office Part I section should be prepared.
The full FinCEN ruling can be found here.
