Reporting companies covered by the Corporate Transparency Act’s (CTA’s) beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirement do not have to file the reports while an injunction remains in place, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said Friday morning.

Companies that do not file BOI reports also are not subject to liability while the injunction remains in place, FinCEN said. However, the estimated 32 million small businesses covered by the reporting requirements may submit their BOI reports voluntarily, FinCEN said.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay Thursday of a nationwide injunction issued by a district court in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland, No. 4:24-CV-478 (E.D. Texas 12/3/24), a separate nationwide injunction issued by a different Texas court remains in place, FinCEN said.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), which represented the plaintiffs in the second case, Samantha Smith and Robert Means v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, No. 6:24-CV-336 (E.D. Texas 1/7/2025), said in a news release Thursday that its case is “based on different facts and arguments from the one in front of the Supreme Court.”

The U.S. Department of Justice has not yet filed a notice of appeal in the case.

Background

Under the CTA, P.L. 116-283, which Congress passed in 2021 as an anti-money-laundering initiative, reporting companies must disclose the identity and information about beneficial owners of the entities. For new entities incorporated after Jan. 1, 2024, reporting companies must also disclose the identity of “company applicants” — defined as any individual who files an application to form a corporation, limited liability company, or other similar entity.

Most reports were originally due by the start of 2025; however, FinCEN pushed that date to Jan. 13, a deadline that the injunction made null.

Willful violations are punishable by a fine of $591 a day, up to $10,000, and two years in prison with similarly serious penalties for unauthorized disclosure.