CTA:
NOT THE WAY
NSBA LAWSUIT HEADS TO SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
On Wednesday, April 15, 2026, NSBA filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in our ongoing lawsuit over the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) with the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).
As it currently stands, the CTA remains the law of the land. Fortunately, Treasury has opted NOT to take any enforcement actions under the CTA, but that could change.
America’s small businesses need the Supreme Court to intervene and issue a final ruling on this deeply flawed law and NSBA is working hard to make that happen.
Learn more from NSBA's President and CEO Todd McCracken on the supreme problems with the CTA in a special edition episode of Hardwired.
ACTION AGAINST THE CTA
The Justice Department, on behalf of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, filed an appeal to a ruling issued by Texas District Judge Jeremy Kernodle that blocks the implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act.
FinCEN asked the court to stay the injunction, offering an extension of the filing deadline by 30 days to incentivize a stay.
The House overwhelmingly passed legislation to extend the deadline for millions of small businesses to report their ownership information to Treasury under an anti-money laundering law, one of six bipartisan Financial Services bills that cleared the chamber.
Another overturned injunction from the U.S. District Court for Eastern Texas in Smith v. U.S. Department of the Treasury. This was one of several other lawsuits that followed NSBA’s suit and is making its way through the courts. No decision has yet been made in NSBA’s case which resides in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
NSBA First Victories Over the CTA
On Friday, March 1, 2024, the U.S. District Court of Northern Alabama ruled in NSBA’s favor, halting enforcement of the CTA for NSBA members.
While we support the goal of stemming money laundering, this law is not just bad policy, it is unconstitutional. Failure of a small business to comply—intentional or not—could result in up to $10,000 in fines and up to two years in prison.
Furthermore, the information is already being collected and would simply require collaboration between FinCEN and the IRS.
The CTA is yet another example of someone who should be doing the work, shirking their responsibility, and dumping the problem at the feet of small business.
Defeat of the CTA is a victory for law-abiding small-business owners
Efforts to stem money laundering are important, but this version of the CTA is not the way. Read more on NSBA's position and support for repeal in our CTA Issue Brief.
Read the fine print of the unconstitutional CTA here.
Download the formal complaint NSBA filed challenging the Corporate Transparency Act.
On Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, NSBA announced the filing of a constitutional challenge to the Corporate Transparency Act of 2019, which requires small-business owners to undergo a duplicative and burdensome paperwork process. Read our first press release on our suit.
NSBA supported announcements from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) indicating the agency's pause on enforcement of the unconstitutional CTA.
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Think the CTA doesn't affect or apply to you? Think again, and read the frequently asked questions NSBA receives on our efforts to defeat the CTA.
Watch NSBA's latest briefing on our lawsuit and efforts over the CTA.
Among key data from NSBA's Member Survey on the CTA: the average small-business owner is looking at compliance costs of nearly $8,000 - in the first year alone.
NSBA stands for small business - and we aren't alone. The Main Street Business Community supports NSBA's efforts to protect small business from the CTA.