Margaret Tritch End-of-Year Important Notice
Corporate Transparency Act
Stay Issued and then Reinstated
Date: December 30, 2024
If you read our last article, “FinCEN & Why the Time is Now!” you will know the importance for your business or maybe someone you know. If you have not had a chance, please continue reading this notice. You may have been following litigation in Texas, challenging the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and requiring reporting. A United States District Court entered a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and its implementing regulations on December 3, 2024, creating uncertainty on the looming December 31st deadline to file for companies in existence prior to January 1, 2024. On December 23, 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of the preliminary injunction. On December 26, 2024, however, a different panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order vacating the Court’s December 23, 2024, order and thereby granting a stay of the preliminary injunction. Accordingly, as of December 26, 2024, the injunction issued by the district court in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland is in effect, and reporting companies are not currently required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN.
In light of many people around the country closely monitoring these cases, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has continually issued an alert as the legal cases are developing, and we encourage you to follow the embedded link for the current requirements.
After the December 23rd ruling, FinCEN extended the reporting requirements of the CTA to January 13, 2025, to file their reports.
It would appear that as soon as a ruling is issued affirming the CTA, new alerts will come out from FinCEN with a deadline to file that is close in time. If you have put off filing until now, please watch for these alerts carefully https://www.fincen.gov/.
While we are not filing the reports with FinCEN for our clients due to the liability of anyone completing the forms, we are here to help and can provide guidance as needed.
While uncertainty is never helpful as we go into 2025, if you are one who procrastinated on reporting, you have some additional time while this plays out in the courts.
Best wishes for the new year.
