President Donald Trump’s Treasury Department recently announced that it will not enforce the Corporate Transparency Act’s (CTA) beneficial ownership information reporting rule (BOI).
BOI rules, originally designed to combat illicit business transactions, fraud, and money laundering by requiring businesses to disclose their ownership’s identity, have faced criticism for being allegedly unconstitutional and burdensome for small businesses.
Specifically, businesses have complained BOI rules’ ambiguity causes uncertainty over who qualifies as an owner, exposing businesses to an undue burden of fines, penalties, and potential prosecution if they make a mistake when disclosing required information.
Moreover, the CTA’s overall constitutionality faced legal challenges as impacted businesses claimed the federal government does not have the authority to proscribe such economic regulations.
President Trump criticized BOI rules as “outrageous and invasive” via a Truth Social post where he also promised further action to definitively eliminate BOI.
“This Biden rule has been an absolute disaster for Small Businesses Nationwide,” said Trump. “Furthermore, Treasury is now finalizing an Emergency Regulation to formally suspend this rule for American businesses. The economic menace of BOI reporting will soon be no more.”
The BOI rule enforcement suspension will be limited to companies registered in the US.
Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent qualified the move as “common sense.”
“Today’s action is part of President Trump’s bold agenda to unleash American prosperity by reining in burdensome regulations, in particular for small businesses that are the backbone of the American economy,” said Secretary Bessent.
Trump has pledged to support American small businesses and has lobbied for Congress to pass measures such as enshrining the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and no taxes on tips.
The TCJA mainly reduces personal income and corporate taxes among other regulatory tax reforms.
A recent study conducted on behalf of the National Federation of Independent Business found making the TCJA permanent would create 1 million jobs annually.
