The Treasury Department announced Sunday it is suspending enforcement of new business ownership disclosure requirements for U.S. citizens and domestic businesses and will be moving to narrow the reporting rules to foreign business companies.
Farms and small businesses have faced a March 21 deadline for filing the reports for the first time under the Corporate Transparency Act, a law aimed at preventing money laundering.
In a press release, the department said it would “not enforce any penalties or fines associated with the beneficial ownership information reporting rule under the existing regulatory deadlines, but it will further not enforce any penalties or fines against U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies or their beneficial owners after the forthcoming rule changes take effect either.”
The department said it would propose a new rule to restrict the reporting requirement to “foreign reporting companies only.”
The Supreme Court in January ruled against a nationwide stay that had been issued by a Texas judge against the reporting requirement. The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) subsequently announced that the reporting requirement was back in effect and set the March 21 filing deadline. The original reporting deadline was Jan. 1.
The American Farm Bureau Federation has estimated the Corporate Transparency Act reporting requirement applies to 230,000 farms. The requirement affects farms operated as LLCs, including those with a single member, as well as limited partnerships and S and C corporations.
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