NSBA applauds FinCEN for pausing these senseless penalties and continues urging Congress to act to repeal the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, Feb. 28, 2025
Contact:
Molly Day
202-552-2904
FinCEN Freezes Penalties on CTA Enforcement
Washington, D.C. – Late yesterday, Thursday, Feb. 27, the Financial Crimes and Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced they will not take any enforcement actions against companies that fail to file or update their Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reports per the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).
The announcement from FinCEN reads:
“Today, 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) reports pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act by the current deadlines. No fines or penalties will be issued, and no enforcement actions will be taken, until a forthcoming interim final rule becomes effective and the new relevant due dates in the interim final rule have passed. This announcement continues Treasury’s commitment to reducing regulatory burden on businesses, as well as prioritizing under the Corporate Transparency Act reporting of BOI for those entities that pose the most significant law enforcement and national security risks.
No later than March 21, 2025, FinCEN intends to issue an interim final rule that extends BOI reporting deadlines, recognizing the need to provide new guidance and clarity as quickly as possible, while ensuring that BOI that is highly useful to important national security, intelligence, and law enforcement activities is reported.”
FinCEN also stated their intent to gather public comment on the potential revisions to BOI reporting. Although this latest movement in the CTA drama is a positive one, it is important to note that the law itself is flawed and FinCEN still must work within a framework that includes massive penalties and fines: up to $591 in fees per day and up to 2 years in prison for possible inadvertent mistakes in reporting.
Currently, ONLY NSBA members in good standing as of March 1, 2024 are exempt from this rule. However, NSBA continues to urge Congress to intervene and delay, and ultimately repeal the CTA.
“While we appreciate the restraint and understanding FinCEN appears to be showing about the massive burden BOI reporting poses for millions of small businesses, we urgently need Congress to intervene and pass legislation that doesn’t harm small businesses, and actually fixes the problem of money-laundering; both sides of the coin on which CTA is a complete failure,” stated NSBA President and CEO Todd McCracken.
NSBA filed the first lawsuit in the nation against the CTA and is currently awaiting judgement from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Furthermore, NSBA is leading the fight against the CTA on Capitol Hill and is encouraging every small business in America to contact their lawmakers and urge them to delay and repeal the CTA.
Click here for NSBA’s CTA Resource page.
Celebrating more than 85 years in operation, NSBA is a staunchly nonpartisan organization advocating on behalf of America’s entrepreneurs. NSBA's 65,000 members represent every state and every industry in the U.S. Please visit www.nsba.biz or follow us at @NSBAAdvocate.
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