New injunction again halts Corporate Transparency Act filing requirement 

The on-again, off-again Corporate Transparency Act, which would require many businesses to file identifying information on owners, is off. Again. 

Certified public accountant Jeff Shore of BRS CPAs & Advisors alerted Springfield Business Journal of the change by email. 

As the case currently stands, businesses are not required to file beneficial ownership information reports to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network but may do so voluntarily, according to a report in The National Law Review. 

The CTA as written would target money laundering by providing ownership details to certain federal agencies. 

A 2021 law would have required initial reporting of ownership information in this calendar year, and filings have been accepted by FinCEN since Jan. 1 of this year with the requirement that certain businesses file before Jan. 1, 2025.  

A Dec. 3 opinion by Judge Amos L. Mazzant III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit included a temporary injunction to halt the filing requirement.  

A Fifth Circuit panel reinstated the reporting requirement on Dec. 23 and extended the deadline to report until Jan. 13, 2025. 

On Dec. 26, a separate Fifth Circuit panel reinstated the injunction, making BOI reporting voluntary.  

The National Law Review article by attorney Kathleen M. Harmann notes the requirement could be reinstated. 

“In light of ongoing uncertainty, we recommend that entities that have not yet filed be prepared to file on short notice if the preliminary injunction is once again stayed or overturned, resulting in the Jan. 13 deadline being reinstated or a new deadline being imposed on short notice,” the article states. 

The FinCEN website offers the option of voluntary online filing, but states, “In light of a recent federal court order, reporting companies are not currently required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN and are not subject to liability if they fail to do so while the order remains in force.” 

The CTA, as written, would require reporting by most small businesses and impose civil penalties of up to $591 per day or up to two years imprisonment for failure to do so. 

According to FinCEN, a beneficial owner is someone who owns or controls a company. The CTA called for reports to include the following information for every beneficial owner: name, birthdate, address, a unique identifying number from an identification document and an image of the identification document. 

FinCEN’s guidelines note exemptions to the CTA for not-for-profit companies and for those reporting more than $5 million in gross receipts or sales in the most recent completed tax year or having at least 20 full-time employees.