January 23rd was a hectic day for business owners who are concerned about the fate of beneficial ownership information (BOI) requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).

For owners who have yet to file, the most pertinent ruling again comes from a federal district court out of Texas in Smith v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, a case that had not been receiving as much coverage until now.  In that case, the judge granted an injunction against BOI reporting requirements, which the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has interpreted to have a nationwide scope.  As such, per FinCEN, reporting companies are not subject to liability if the reporting companies do not file BOI reports.

Coincidentally, also on January 23rd, the Supreme Court granted FinCEN's request to stay the injunction in another Texas court case that had granted a preliminary injunction against BOI reporting requirements.  On its own, this ruling would have restored the mandate to file BOI reports for small corporate entities.  Notably, many articles have been published that state that BOI reporting requirement is back in effect - but it appears those articles were published without seeing the Smith case, which FinCEN has interpreted to leave the reporting requirements as only voluntary for now.

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