Bills to Repeal Corporate Transparency Act Introduced by Sen. Tuberville, Rep. Davidson

January 26, 2025 Kevin

**At left: Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). At right: Congressman Warren Davidson (R-OH-08). Both have introduced legislation in the 119th Congress that would repeal the Corporate Transparency Act.**

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Congressman Warren Davidson (R-OH-08) have re-introduced the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act in the 119th Congress in order to overturn the Corporate Transparency Act and protect farmers and small business owners from excessive federal reporting requirements, heavy fines, and felony charges.

For as many as 230,000 farmers, failure to comply with the Corporate Transparency Act could lead to ten years in prison and fines up to $10,000 if you don’t provide your personal information to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Network (FinCEN).

“The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) infringes American small business owners’ privacy rights by forcing them to disclose sensitive information to the government. The CTA is a disaster for small businesses and must be repealed immediately,” said Rep. Davidson. “That is why I am re-introducing this legislation in the 119th Congress, and I urge my colleagues to join me in passing it.”

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy,” said Sen. Tuberville. “Small business owners are the ultimate job creators, yet they have been crushed by four years of Joe Biden’s disastrous economic policies. They need less government regulation, not more. The CTA requirements that dictate they must share personal data or pay a fine and spend time in jail does nothing but stifle increased economic growth. This unprecedented intrusion into personal privacy is something you’d expect in Communist China, but not in the United States of America. We need to ensure that our business owners never have to worry about this again.”

There has been a significant amount of confusion caused recently by the Corporate Transparency Act. The ongoing drama continued on Thursday as the U.S. Supreme Court decided to overturn a lower court’s order blocking enforcement of the law. However, enforcement of the new law is still on hold due to a separate injunction issued on Jan. 7 by a federal judge in Texas that remains in place, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, the website for the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has posted the following statement:

“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. However, reporting companies may continue to voluntarily submit beneficial ownership information reports.”

**Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of Treasury, speaking about the rollout of the Corporate Transparency Act in January 2024. Image courtesy of the U.S. Treasury Department.**

Passed by Congress in 2021, the Corporate Transparency Act requires small business owners—including over 230,000 farmers and ranchers—to file a new report called the “Beneficial Ownership Information” report—with the Treasury Department’s FinCEN. The law is a broad effort by the Federal Government to crack down on shell companies that are set up to launder money or fund terrorist activities. However, critics of the law say the government’s definition of “shell company” is too broad and puts as many as 32.6 million Americans at risk of becoming felons and facing heavy fines if they fail to comply.

The original deadline for filing was Jan. 1, 2025. However, a federal judge in Texas issued a nationwide injunction stopping the government from enforcing the act in late November. But, just days before Christmas, that injunction was overturned by an Appeals Court. To make matters worse, the Treasury Department then decided to extend the deadline by only two weeks to Jan. 13.

Kent Bacus, Executive Director of Government Affairs with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, has expressed his frustration over the Corporate Transparency Act in a statement issued on Friday.

“We urge President Trump, and his nominee for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, to rescue millions of American small business owners from these burdensome reporting requirements and delay enforcement until a meaningful solution is found,” said Bacus.