NFIB has submitted an amicus brief in the case Community Associations Institute, et al. v. U.S. Department of Treasury at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The case focuses on the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and its beneficial ownership information reporting requirements for small businesses. NFIB's brief questions Congress's authority to regulate inactivity or noneconomic activity under the Commerce Clause.

"The Corporate Transparency Act does not regulate activity, let alone economic activity, while also imposing burdensome reporting requirements on small businesses and raising numerous privacy concerns," said Beth Milito, Vice President and Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center. "NFIB will continue to advocate for the small business community by contesting this harmful law."

The brief presented by NFIB argues three main points: firstly, that the CTA does not regulate activity and cannot pass muster under the Commerce Clause; secondly, that to pass the substantial effects test under this clause, Congress must be regulating economic activity, which involves introduction, production, or exchange of goods or services; thirdly, because the Act regulates noneconomic activity, it fails the Commerce Clause’s substantial effects test.

While NFIB's own lawsuit challenging the CTA is still ongoing, they highlight that Congress has an option to pass legislation known as the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act. This legislation would repeal the CTA and permanently relieve small businesses from these reporting requirements.

The NFIB Small Business Legal Center aims to protect small business owners' rights in courts across America. Currently active in over 40 cases in federal and state courts nationwide as well as in the U.S. Supreme Court.