A federal court has granted a temporary injunction blocking the U.S. Department of Treasury from enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act’sbeneficial ownership information reporting requirements.
The National Federation of Independent Business’s lawsuit argues that the CTA is unconstitutional because it exceeds Congress’s authority over the states, improperly compels speech, contradicts the right of anonymous association guaranteed by the First Amendment, and violates the Fourth Amendment by forcing the disclosure of private information.
NFIB partnered with the Center for Individual Rights and filed the lawsuit with the Texas Top Cop Shop, Data Comm for Business, Mustardseed Livestock, Russell Straayer, and the Libertarian Party of Mississippi. Because NFIB and its nearly 300,000 members were parties to this case, the judge blocked the enforcement of the BOI reporting requirements nationwide.
“This is a big victory for Georgia’s small businesses. In granting this preliminary injunction, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas raised concerns about the Corporate transparency Act’s constitutionality and impact on small businesses,” NFIB Georgia State Director Hunter Loggins. “It would have imposed a heavy reporting burden on small business owners, with severe penalties for noncompliance. Our efforts to permanently overturn the act are ongoing, but by ruling before the Dec. 31 deadline, the judge has at least temporarily relieved businesses of the filing requirement.”
The NFIB Small Business Legal Center protects the rights of small business owners in the nation’s courts. NFIB is currently active in more than 40 cases in federal and state courts nationwide and in the U.S. Supreme Court.