In a unanimous decision on Dec. 16, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit reversed and remanded the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama’s stay of the Corporate Transparency Act in Nat’l Small Bus. United v. Dep’t of Treasury. (11th Cir., No. 24-10736, 12/16/25.)
This decision lifts the order blocking enforcement of the act issued by the district court in March 2024 that paused all reporting requirements for associations required under the act.
CAI is closely monitoring the National Small Business Association’s next steps in this matter. In March 2025, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an interim final rule removing requirements for U.S. companies and U.S. persons to report beneficial ownership information (BOI) to FinCEN under the act.
Under the interim final rule, FinCEN revises the definition of “reporting company” in its regulations to mean only those entities formed under the law of a foreign country and registered to do business in any U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction by filing documents with a secretary of state or similar office (formerly known as “foreign reporting companies”). FinCEN also exempts entities previously known as “domestic reporting companies” from BOI reporting requirements.
Through this interim final rule, all entities created in the United States — including those previously known as domestic reporting companies — and their beneficial owners will be exempt from the requirement to report BOI to FinCEN.
FinCEN accepted public comments on this interim final rule in spring 2025 and intends to finalize the rule this year.
This interim final rule is interpreted to mean the act and its reporting requirements are no longer in effect for U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies including all applicable community associations. At this time, CAI is waiting for publication of a final rule by the Treasury Department and is following this court case closely.
Read more about this federal court decision here: https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report/corporate-transparency-act-block-lifted-after-trump-rule-shakeup.
Visit CAI’s resources on the Corporate Transparency Act here: https://www.caionline.org/advocacy/advocacy-priorities-overview/corporate-transparency-act/
