The millions of businesses that rode out the recent roller-coaster of court rulings and chose not to file their CTA reports to date should be feeling pretty good right now. Fresh on the heels of FinCEN’s announcement that it was pausing enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act pending the enactment of new regulations, the Treasury Department yesterday shed some additional light on what the new reporting regime will look like. Here’s the press release:

The Treasury Department is announcing today that, with respect to the Corporate Transparency Act, not only will it not enforce any penalties or fines associated …

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The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced yesterday that it is ceasing enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) while it crafts a new set of regulations that will ultimately narrow the scope of the reporting regime. It’s a huge win for Main Street, particularly as the CTA’s reporting requirements were scheduled to take effect once again beginning March 21^st.

Here’s the key passage from FinCEN’s release:

FinCEN announced that it will not issue any fines or penalties or take any other enforcement actions against any companies based on any failure to file or update beneficial ownership information (BOI) …

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Yesterday’s District Court decision lifting the injunction against the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is a setback for Main Street.

The Texas court lifted the second and only remaining injunction blocking filing under the CTA, again forcing millions of small (and not-so-small) businesses to report all their beneficial ownership information (BOI) to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) or face fines and jail time. As the Court ruled:

In light of the Supreme Court’s order in McHenry v. Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc., the Court has determined that the motion should be, and hereby is, GRANTED. The Court’s January 7, 2025 order granting …

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Notable Developments

• Smith ruling appealed
• FinCEN promises relief amid shifting legal landscape
• NFIB files amicus brief
• Delay bill sails through House

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Smith Ruling Appealed

On February 5, the DOJ filed a notice of appeal of a District Court’s ruling in Smith v Treasury, the case that led FinCEN last month to once again pause data collection under the CTA. However, the government also asked the appellate court to stay the nationwide injunction against the CTA’s reporting requirements pending a ruling in the case, meaning the current pause could be undone by the courts at any point.

Main Street businesses had hoped …

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Over 120 trade associations today called on the Treasury Department to offer Main Street some relief and certainty by delaying the CTA through at least the end of this year. As the letter sent to Secretary Scott Bessent reads:

Despite massive public awareness campaigns by the groups represented here, as of December 1, 2024 – just one month before a year-end deadline – FinCEN had received less than 30 percent of the required filings. Had the courts not intervened, tens of millions of business owners would have been out of compliance and at risk of felony prosecutions. 

The myriad of …

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