Government Regulations

IDFPR Massage Therapy Practice Act 

IDFPR Rules and Regulations  

National Advocacy

For what is happening nationally, you should check the Advocacy Action Center on National AMTA website. There you can connect to Advocacy notices that may affect massage therapy and directly contact your legislative representatives. You may also be interested in the Advocacy News Archives for more information.

Recent Legislative State Changes 

  • Effective January 1, 2024  HB 2756 went into law. This law requires massage therapists to acquire 1 CE each renewal cycle on domestic violence and sexual assault awareness. This hour is in addition to the existing 24-hour requirement so massage therapists  will have to have a total of 25 hours of CE. The Department of Finance and Professional Regulations IS NOT requiring it for renewal 2024. 
  • Effective January 1, 2024 Paid time off for ALL employees (not including independent contractors) https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.26164.html
  • January 1, 2022 The Massage Therapy Practice Act Section 50 mandates that “A massage therapist shall include the current license number issued by the Department on all  advertisements…” This includes cards, and signs.
  • 2020 —
    • IDFPR mandated that the 24 CE are no longer distinguished between self-study and hand-on. Therefore, all 24 CEs can be done self-study, online etc.
    • Every licensed profession in the state of IL must have 1 CE on Sexual Harassment Prevention to renew their license.

Legislative State News 

Change in LLC that hold state licenses

This information is for anyone who has a professional license through IL Department of Finance and Professional Regulations (IDFPR) AND has or is planning to have a business structure of Limited Liability Corporation (LLC). I’m sure you learned in school that there are several forms of business structures to choose from: sole proprietorship, doing-business-as, corporations which can be S-corp or C-corp or limited liability corporation (LLC).  The state has made a change for LLCs that provide services that are licensed by IDFPR.

Due to statue changes in the State for LLC, all business listed as LLC’s that provide professional services licensed by the IDFPR are now required to register as a Professional Limited Liability Corporation (PLLC) with the IL Secretary of State’s Office (ILSOS).  The PLLC must list a specific purpose clause for the type of professional service being provided. The PLLC must also gain a certificate from IDFPR.

This does not apply if your business structure is sole proprietorship, or S-corp or C-corp; ONLY LLC. There are some restrictions on some professions (dentistry, medical offices, real estate, clinical psychology, social work, marriage and family counseling, professional counseling and sex offender evaluators and treatment centers). However, there can be combined PLLCs (for instance massage and naprapathy, acupuncture) provided that each professional service is offered ONLY by persons licensed to provide that professional service and all management members are licensed in at least one of the professional services.

For more information on this click on the link below.

https://idfpr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/idfpr/forms/online/-248-limited-liability-company-user-guide.pdf

To change a current LLC to a PLLC

Go to https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/pdf_publications/llc525.pdf on the ILSOS website for the amendment form.  Use the form (LLC 5.25),

  1. Check 3e) and change the name from LLC to PLLC in the line as indicated on the page.
  2. Check 3h) and under “Additional information:” state “The purpose of the company is to provide massage therapy”
  3. Mail with your $50 check to the ISOS address on the form.
  4. There is no fee to the  ILSOS if the original purpose clause was specific to the profession and was not a general statement.
  5. You will then need to upload a filed copy of your Articles of Amendment to your online application as well as a signed and dated statement to correct your business name to show the PLLC of your application with IDFPR.

There are penalties if a PLLC is open without certification with IDFPR that is renewable every 3 years from 1/1/2019 (so it should be renewed 1/1/2025 and again 2028). Once a notice is sent out the PLLC has 30 days to respond with an application, the $50 fee and a late fee of $100 for each year they have not been in compliance (maximum of $500). There can be a $1000 civil penalty if they do not respond.

FEDERAL Treasury Information

The US Treasury has determined that reporting companies have to report a Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) to their Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as a means of assisting in curtailing illicit funds. They are asking information on who actually owns or has controlling interest in the business. They have developed a Frequently Asked Question regarding the Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Rule and Beneficial Ownership Information Access and Safeguards Rule. Their website is:

https://www.fincen.gov/boi-faqs#A_1

Basically, if your company is a corporation, limited liability corporation or professional limited liability corporation or if you have registered your business with the secretary of state or similar office you will have to report. If your company was formed prior to January of this year you have until January 1, 2025 to report. If you formed your company after the first of this year, you have 90 calendar days from receiving your certificate from the secretary of state and you will also have to report the company applicant (see the FAQ). If your company will be formed after the end of the year, you will have 30 days from when you receive your certificate from the secretary of state.

These are excerpts from the FAQ that may be of interest:

  1. 6. Is a sole proprietorship a reporting company?

No, unless a sole proprietorship was created (or, if a foreign sole proprietorship, registered to do business) in the United States by filing a document with a secretary of state or similar office. An entity is a reporting company only if it was created (or, if a foreign company, registered to do business) in the United States by filing such a document. Filing a document with a government agency to obtain (1) an IRS employer identification number, (2) a fictitious business name, or (3) a professional or occupational license does not create a new entity, and therefore does not make a sole proprietorship filing such a document a reporting company.

  1. 8. Do the BOI reporting requirements apply to S-Corporations?

Yes. A corporation treated as a pass-through entity under Subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code (an “S Corporation” or “S-Corp”) that qualifies as a reporting company—i.e., that is created or registered to do business by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or similar office, and does not qualify for any of the exemptions to the reporting requirements—must comply with the reporting requirements. The S-Corp’s pass-through structure for tax purposes does not affect its BOI reporting obligations. In particular, pass-through treatment under Subchapter S does not qualify an S-Corp as a “tax-exempt entity” under FinCEN BOI reporting regulations.

1. What happens if a reporting company does not report beneficial ownership information to FinCEN or fails to update or correct the information within the required timeframe?

FinCEN is working hard to ensure that reporting companies are aware of their obligations to report, update, and correct beneficial ownership information. FinCEN understands this is a new requirement. If you correct a mistake or omission within 90 days of the deadline for the original report, you may avoid being penalized. However, you could face civil and criminal penalties if you disregard your beneficial ownership information reporting obligations.

2. What penalties do individuals face for violating BOI reporting requirements?

As specified in the Corporate Transparency Act, a person who willfully violates the BOI reporting requirements may be subject to civil penalties of up to $500 for each day that the violation continues. However, this civil penalty amount is adjusted annually for inflation. As of the time of publication of this FAQ, this amount is $591.

A person who willfully violates the BOI reporting requirements may also be subject to criminal penalties of up to two years imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000. Potential violations include willfully failing to file a beneficial ownership information report, willfully filing false beneficial ownership information, or willfully failing to correct or update previously reported beneficial ownership information.

There are some HOAs and trusts that may also need to be reported so if you have one of those check out the FAQ.

What information will be required:

A reporting company will have to report:

  1. Its legal name;
  2. Any trade names, “doing business as” (d/b/a), or “trading as” (t/a) names;
  3. The current street address of its principal place of business if that address is in the United States (for example, a U.S. reporting company’s headquarters), or, for reporting companies whose principal place of business is outside the United States, the current address from which the company conducts business in the United States (for example, a foreign reporting company’s U.S. headquarters); can’t be P.O.Box.
  4. Its jurisdiction of formation or registration; and
  5. Its Taxpayer Identification Number (or, if a foreign reporting company has not been issued a TIN, a tax identification number issued by a foreign jurisdiction and the name of the jurisdiction).

A reporting company will also have to indicate whether it is filing an initial report, or a correction or an update of a prior report.

The owner will have to report:

For each individual who is a beneficial owner, a reporting company will have to provide:

  1. The individual’s name;
  2. Date of birth;
  3. Residential address; and
  4. An identifying number from an acceptable identification document such as a passport or U.S. driver’s license, and the name of the issuing state or jurisdiction of identification document (for examples of acceptable identification, see Question F.5).

The reporting company will also have to report an image of the identification document used to obtain the identifying number in item 4.

Company applicants (only for companies certified this year) will need to report:

For each individual who is a company applicant, a reporting company will have to provide:

  1. The individual’s name;
  2. Date of birth;
  3. Address; and
  4. An identifying number from an acceptable identification document such as a passport or U.S. driver’s license, and the name of the issuing state or jurisdiction of identification document (for examples of acceptable identification, see Question F.5).

The reporting company will also have to report an image of the identification document used to obtain the identifying number in item 4.

If the company applicant works in corporate formation—for example, as an attorney or corporate formation agent—then the reporting company must report the company applicant’s business address. Otherwise, the reporting company must report the company applicant’s residential address. The applicant and owner may be one and the same individual.