CTA Still On Hold Despite Ruling

There is a lot of drama going on over the Corporate Transparency Act, a law that was put into place to mitigate money laundering and shell companies. The on again, off again, on again legislation also affects HOA Boards, and the HOA Leadership Network has been monitoring the situation. The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government on January 23 — so we have included a good summary from AP below. All we can say is you need to do nothing if you haven’t registered yet. And if you have, just sit tight. The drama continues!

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| NEW YORK (AP) — January 25, 2025 — Small businesses are still not required to register with an agency called the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN — for now.

The registration is part of the Corporate Transparency Act, an anti-money laundering statue passed in 2021. Under the CTA, the owners and part-owners of an estimated 32.6 million small businesses must register personal information with FinCEN, such as a photo ID and home address.

The aim of the law is to cut down on shell corporations and money laundering. But small business advocates say the reporting requirements are too onerous.

The rule has long been in legal limbo. On Thursday, the Supreme Court lifted an injunction related to a case over the act. However, the FinCEN agency clarified on Friday that due to a separate court case with another injunction, registration is still voluntary.

“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 agency posted on its website Friday.

It added that companies can still voluntarily submit beneficial ownership information reports.

Even if the registration does go into effect, it is unclear whether the Trump administration will devote much effort to enforcing the registration requirement, which has been opposed by Republican-led states and lawmakers, as well as conservative and business interest groups