The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Government in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, challenging the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and its beneficial ownership reporting requirements.
"The Corporate Transparency Act created one of the largest reporting requirements for small businesses," said Beth Milito, Executive Director of NFIB's Small Business Legal Center. "Small businesses are at risk of being subjected to civil and criminal penalties for simple paperwork violations and must give every level of the government access to private and sometimes confidential information of millions of small business owners. The CTA is unconstitutional, and we ask the Court to prohibit the Treasury Department and FinCEN from enforcing the Act and beneficial ownership requirements."
The lawsuit contends that the CTA exceeds Congress's authority over the states, improperly compels speech and burdens associations, unconstitutionally compels disclosure of private information, and that its reporting rule is not in accordance with existing law. NFIB filed the lawsuit alongside Texas Top Cop Shop, Data Comm for Business, Mustardseed Livestock, Russell Straayer, and Libertarian Party of Mississippi.
NFIB also supports the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act, a piece of legislation aimed at repealing the CTA to relieve small businesses from its beneficial ownership requirements.
The NFIB Small Business Legal Center actively defends small business owners' rights in courts across the nation. Currently, NFIB is involved in more than 40 cases in federal and state courts as well as in the U.S. Supreme Court.
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