FinCEN and Treasury Department Suspend Enforcement of Corporate Transparency Act

On Feb. 27, FinCEN announced that all reporting and enforcement of the CTA would be suspended until a new reporting rule was finalized. Then, on March 2, the Treasury Department issued a press release in which it announced the indefinite suspension of CTA reporting requirements. The Treasury Department said that it would “not enforce any penalties or fines against U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies or their beneficial owners” even after the new regulations were issued, and that the new CTA regulations and compliance requirements would apply to “foreign reporting companies only.” 

FinCEN had previously announced that it was extending the beneficial ownership information reporting deadline to March 21, 2025. The new instruction from FinCEN and the Treasury Department indicates that new guidance will be issued before March 21, 2025. 

Based on these announcements, it appears that the previous reporting deadline of March 21 is now suspended and, until FinCEN or the Treasury Department provides new guidance, beneficial ownership reporting is not required. The FinCEN and Treasury Department websites should be closely monitored to check for new guidance prior to March 21. Clients should be advised that the situation is fluid and clients may want to be prepared to file on short notice if necessary.