Understanding the Status of the Corporate Transparency Act – U.S. Supreme Court Issues Decision on January 23, 2025

By Kent “KAB” Brasseale, II and Heather M. Lobermann

Where Are We Now?

On January 23, 2025, the United States Supreme Court granted the Department of the Treasury’s application for a stay of the nationwide injunction previously granted by a Texas federal judge in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. McHenry (which temporarily blocked enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act). By granting this stay, the Supreme Court put filing requirements back in play.

Notwithstanding the Supreme Court ruling, FinCen, the agency in charge of enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act, issued an alert on January 24th stating that reporting companies are not currently required to file Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) with FinCen due to a separate nationwide injunction issued earlier this month by a different Texas federal judge in a separate case, Smith v. U.S. Department of Treasury. Therefore, at present, compliance with the BOI filing requirements remains voluntary.

What Happens Next?

The Department of the Treasury is still within the window to appeal the nationwide injunction granted in the Smith case. As of now, the Department of the Treasury has not commented on whether it will appeal the lower Court’s decision in Smith.

Litigation remains ongoing in the Texas Top Cop Shop case. Oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Corporate Transparency Act will be held before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on March 25, 2025.

Republican members in Congress are attempting to end the Corporate Transparency Act through legislation. On January 15, 2025, Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Representative Warren Davidson of Ohio reintroduced the “Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act” to override the Corporate Transparency Act.

The next few weeks and months will result in further updates on the status of the law and filing requirements for businesses. We will continue to provide information on the substantive updates.

The status of the law remains in flux and voluntary filing might still make sense to ensure timely compliance in the event the constitutionality of the Corporate Transparency Act is confirmed.

How Can KDDK Help Me?

If we can be of assistance and/or answer any questions you may have regarding the Corporate Transparency Act, please contact attorneys Kent (“KAB”) Brasseale II at kbrasseale@kddk.com, Heather Lobermann at hlobermann@kddk.com, or by phone at (812) 423-3183.

For more information about the Corporate Transparency Act and how the status of the law has evolved through the courts, please see our prior blogs:

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