NSBA applauds Treasury and FinCEN for choosing common sense to respond to Small-Business concerns over the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 3, 2025
Contact:
Molly Day
202-552-2904
Treasury Announces Broad CTA Roll-Back
UPDATE | MARCH 5, 2025, NSBA’s Michigan affiliate, the Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM), recently notched another critical victory against the unconstitutional Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).
This week, Judge Robert Jonker of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan ruled in favor of SBAM in its suit against the Treasury Department over the CTA, specifically saying, “[t]he CTA may have good intentions, but the road it chooses to pursue them paves over all reasonable limits.” Judge Jonker agreed with SBAM’s assertion that the CTA violates the Fourth Amendment rights of small-business owners.
This decision helps continue the long-term fight against the CTA and the harms it causes small companies. While President Trump and Treasury Secretary Bessent this week announced the government will be adjusting authorities of the CTA, intending now to only enforce beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements as applicable only to foreign companies - without a final action by Courts or Congress to formally repeal the CTA, any future Administration could reinstate the rules, pulling the rug out from under Main Street entrepreneurs.
Because of these longer-term uncertainties, NSBA is continuing is fight over the CTA, urging Congress to codify the victory won for NSBA members as of March 1, 2024 - the only class of small-business owners who have remained exempt from reporting requirements by injunction of our winning federal court order through the unsettling CTA back and forth.
Working to extend this exemption to all small-business owners and those members who joined NSBA after the March 1, 2024, deadline included in our victory for America's most important economic community, the SBAM decision further ratifies our position that the CTA is unconstitutional, echoing the arguments made in our first-in-the-nation lawsuit over the CTA.
Read the full court decision for the SBAM case and victory over the CTA here.
Learn how the CTA affects your small business here.
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Washington, D.C. – Late Sunday, March 2, Treasury announced they will NOT take any enforcement actions under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) on U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies or their beneficial owners. Per forthcoming emergency regulations, Treasury says they will only take action against foreign companies that fail to comply with the CTA and/or Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting. President Donald Trump echoed the sentiment on Truth Social, citing that the CTA rule “…has been a nightmare for Small Businesses Nationwide.”
NSBA has been leading the charge for years against the CTA and filed the first lawsuit in the nation against Treasury over this unfair regulatory regime, and warned lawmakers before the CTA even passed about the massive burden and invasion of privacy it would be for small businesses.
President and CEO Todd McCracken had this to say: “Today is a good day for small business. I applaud the administration for seeing this law for what it is: a massive burden on America’s job creators which will do next to nothing to actually stop money-laundering. We have been beating the drum on this flawed concept for three administration’s now, and I’m glad our message has finally gotten through.”
The announcement from Treasury reads:
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 with the beneficial ownership information reporting rule under the existing regulatory deadlines, but it will further not enforce any penalties or fines against U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies or their beneficial owners after the forthcoming rule changes take effect either. The Treasury Department will further be issuing a proposed rulemaking that will narrow the scope of the rule to foreign reporting companies only. Treasury takes this step in the interest of supporting hard-working American taxpayers and small businesses and ensuring that the rule is appropriately tailored to advance the public interest.
Although this latest movement in the CTA drama is a very positive one, it is important to note that the battle over CTA is likely still not over. There are various lawsuits in the pipeline—including NSBA’s—and it is anticipated that additional lawsuits could be filed to force the administration to comply with the law.
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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