On Tuesday, February 18, 2025, a Federal district judge in Texas lifted the nationwide preliminary injunction issued in Smith v. U.S. Dept. of Treasury, which means that the Corporate Transparency Act ("CTA") and its reporting obligations are back on, for now.
As expected, FinCEN issued a statement on February 19, 2025, extending the filing deadline for most entities to March 21, 2025. Entities that were previously given a filing date after March 21, 2025, including entities impacted by natural disasters, can use that later date. Entities formed on or after February 18, 2025 have 30 days from the date of formation to file. See FinCEN Notice FIN-2025-CTA1.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the preliminary injunction issued in a separate but similar case, Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. McHenry, which was the first nationwide injunction that halted the CTA's filing requirements. But because of the second nationwide injunction issued in the Smith case, the CTA remained on hold until now.
Based on the Supreme Court's decision in Texas Top Cop Shop, the Treasury Department filed a motion to request a stay of the preliminary injunction in Smith. In its motion, Treasury stated that FinCEN would extend the filing deadline 30 days when the injunction was lifted.
Further, there are several other Federal cases waiting to be heard by the courts, including Texas Top Cop by the Fifth Circuit and National Small Business United (previously covered by Butler Snow here) by the Eleventh Circuit. So, expect additional updates in the coming weeks.
Finally, there is proposed legislation, the Protect Small Businesses from Excessive Paperwork Act of 2025, that would extend the filing deadline for entities formed before January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2025. The House passed that bill unanimously (408-0) on February 10, 2025. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
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