Corporate Transparency Act: Terrorism, Tax Fraud, & Money-Laundering... What does it mean for small business owners?

Where will you draw your line in the sand?

Every week I talk about different issues happening in our world that are stomping on peoples’ rights and freedoms. I tune into my own list of talk show hosts and podcasters. As truth seekers, we claim that we believe in freedom and we can talk and talk and talk about these issues, but if we don’t start doing something about them and drawing our line in the sand— the crooks in charge will continue to keep steam rolling us and things will get worse.

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This week I saw a report by Doug Hagmann; he mentioned something called the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and how it will affect small business owners.

After Hagmann’s report, I started looking into the Corporate Transparency Act since I had not heard anyone else talking about it. The more I learned about the CTA and what it means for small business, I believe it is not only unconstitutional, but in my opinion, it is about tearing down small business and deterring future small business owners from building their own financial freedom.

This is when I came to the realization about my own beliefs, “Where will I draw my line in the sand?”

Even though I am going to tell you what I found out about the Corporate Transparency Act and the effects it will have on 30+ million small business owners, I hope at the very least, this article will get you to contemplate the one issue you are passionate about, and move you to find and draw your own line in the sand to make a difference.

What is the Corporate Transparency Act?

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is actually part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), “…a series of United States federal laws specifying the annual budget and expenditures of the U.S. Department of Defense.”

So the CTA ultimately falls under the umbrella of the Department of Defense, why do they care about small business owners? My guess is because I learned the CTA is tied to monitoring terrorism activities.

The CTA was squashed by the Trump administration because it was just another barrier to deter small business ownership. But of course, when Biden got in office he revived it. It was passed in 2021 and there is a personal information reporting piece that went into effect January 1, 2024. This reporting piece is known as “beneficial ownership information” also referred to as BOI. To translate it means reporting personal information of those that benefit from the business, as in a small business owner.

Why all the hoopla about filing small business owner information? According to RFDTV, “The CTA was passed with the purported purpose of enhancing transparency in entity structures and ownership to combat money laundering, tax fraud, and other illicit activities. In short, it’s an anti-money laundering initiative designed to catch those who are using shell corporations to avoid tax. The BOI reporting requirement is designed to capture more information about the ownership of specific entities operating in or accessing the U.S. market.”

So they want to keep track of all small business owners’ personal information in case they are involved in the activities listed above.

Small Businesses Carry the Burden

It’s the small business owner companies that have to report their personal information into a database managed by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)—this financial crimes network is under the U.S. Treasury Department. I’m wondering if this doesn’t have something to do with the 87,000 IRS agents that were hired.

Do you think the government is using their resources to go after the real crooks? No. Instead, they’re using their resources to come after small mom and pop businesses. The joke is that small businesses have to report their information, but large companies that are far more likely in my opinion to take part in money-laundering, financing corruption, terrorism, drugs, guns, or trafficking, and tax fraud are exempt. These are some of the types of businesses that don’t have to report information: banks, credit unions, insurance companies, broker/dealers in securities, money services, securities exchange/clearing, governmental authority, and this is just a few from a list of 23 as stated on the FinCEN website.

They’re going to do everything they can to stomp out the spirit of small businesses and deter future small businesses from even starting.

If a small business fails to comply, it could result in upwards of about a $600 a day fine, as much as a total $10,000 fine, and up to two years in prison.

And of course, it makes sense because they never leave the guy alone that wants to build something of his own. They want to place a noose around his neck. But if you’re a shyster, crook, thug—no problem, don’t worry, be on your way.

Deadlines for Reporting

If a small business was already established before January 1, 2024, the information report must be filed by January 1, 2025. If a small business is established in 2024, the report must be filed within a 90-day period of the business formation. If a small business is established after January 1, 2025, from that point forward, new businesses will have a 30-day period after the start of the business in which to file a report.

Court Finds CTA Unconstitutional

As I was researching the CTA, I found an article that was about a business advocacy group that filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury Department (Janet Yellen) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama called, National Small Business United v. Yellen—claiming the “beneficial ownership information” (BOI), the reporting requirement is unconstitutional. A decision was handed down on March 1, 2024 in favor of the plaintiff.

They ruled that the Corporate Transparency Act requiring businesses to disclose personal information to FinCEN is unconstitutional. A source article about the lawsuit stated, “In their lawsuit, filed in 2022, the NSBA contended that the CTA unfairly burdens small businesses by requiring them to divulge ‘highly personal’ details to FinCEN. In addition, the NSBA argued that small businesses could face average costs of $8,000 in the first year of compliance (per court filings).”

At least for the time being, the members of the National Small Business Association (NSBA), do not have to file a BOI, although the case is expected to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.

Unfortunately for the other 30+ million small businesses, they have to file the reports.

My Line in the Sand

The reason this became one of my lines in the sand, I think, is I’ve been learning a lot more about the Constitution, the original Constitution, the pseudo Constitution, the Organic Act, our real rights versus what we think are our rights, etc.

I believe this CTA and the reporting are unconstitutional, but I have to be able to defend that statement and I will need to learn more about all of this in order to do that.

I think once you know your rights, you know where you stand, and you can defend them.

In terms of the Corporate Transparency Act, I believe it’s anything but transparent, just consider the authors of it; the liars, thieves, and thugs that are running this charade against terrorism.

If we really believe in something it’s time to start standing up and defending our beliefs.

Where will you draw your line in the sand?

(Video**Program Note: I meant to say in favor of the plaintiff in the case against the CTA.)

Sources:

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN): https://fincen.gov/

https://insights.taylorenglish.com/post/102i1mc/nsba-sues-to-have-corporate-transparency-act-ruled-unconstitutional

RFD TV: https://www.rfdtv.com/business/blogs/firm-to-farm/how-does-the-courts-reining-in-of-unconstitutional-federal-power-impact-boi-reporting

NDAA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Defense_Authorization_Act
 

Corporate Transparency Act ruled unconstitutional: What it means for Beneficial Ownership Reporting:

https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/expert-insights/corporate-transparency-act-ruled-unconstitutional-what-it-means-for-beneficial-ownership-reporting

Adele Weiss interview:
https://app.talkshoe.com/recording/inline/key/05339125defa635d53534612a0002d8554fd6a3b.mp3