On December 23, 2024, in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit stayed the preliminary injunction on enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) previously imposed by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on December 3, 2024.
Since the preliminary injunction was put into place on December 3, 2024, there was no legal requirement to submit CTA Beneficial Ownership Information Reports (BOIRs) and associated updates. The Fifth Circuit stay means that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) may again enforce all CTA requirements including the January 1, 2025 deadline for entities which were created prior to January 1, 2024.
Possible Actions by FinCEN & the Parties
The parties who brought the underlying court action which claims the CTA is unconstitutional may challenge the Fifth Circuit decision by seeking further review from the Fifth Circuit or by seeking relief from the U.S. Supreme Court.
FinCEN may unilaterally extend the deadline to accommodate the number of days the injunction was in place – especially given this is an important time for Christians and Jews in the U.S. (Christmas is December 25 and this year Chanukah begins on December 25).
One of the other U.S. federal courts which are actively considering challenges against the CTA may render decisions.
Next Steps
As of today, all deadlines are back in force including the January 1, 2025 deadline. This means entities subject to CTA BOI reporting should move forward with their filings to FinCEN. For those who are not already in line with a service provider, I recommend you look at the very useful materials on the FinCEN site: fincen.gov/boi.
For assistance, please contact me via my contact page or at elizabeth@elizabethmcmorrowlaw.com.