After a week and a half of yo-yoing federal court decisions affecting the implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act’s requirement for businesses and other entities to file Beneficial Owner Information Reports, the government has now petitioned the United States Supreme Court to weigh in. The Application for a Stay of the Injunction comes on the heels of a pair of conflicting decisions from two different panels of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals; the first which had (temporarily) revived the reporting requirement, and the second that upheld the lower court’s injunction against the implementation of the reporting requirement.
For now, the reporting requirement is once again “voluntary” per FinCEN’s guidance, but business owners and others are advised to pay close attention, as a decision by the Supreme Court could come swiftly. And if the injunction is lifted, any extension of the filing deadline is expected to be relatively short in light of the government’s arguments in the Application for a Stay and given the fact that FinCEN’s prior extension provided less than two additional weeks, moving the deadline from January 1, 2025, to January 13, 2025.
The lawyers at Fraser Trebilcock will continue to keep a close eye on these and other developments.
This alert serves as a general summary and does not constitute legal guidance. Please contact us with any specific questions.
Robert D. Burgee is an attorney at Fraser Trebilcock with over a decade of experience counseling clients with a focus on corporate structures and compliance, licensing, contracts, regulatory compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and a host of other matters related to the operation of small and medium-sized businesses and non-profits. You can reach him at 517.377.0848 or at bburgee@fraserlawfirm.com.