On Dec. 3, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, issued a nationwide Preliminary Injunction pausing enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and the Jan. 1, 2025, Beneficial Ownership Information Report deadline, pending further order of the court.

As drafted, the CTA requires all non-exempt Reporting Companies organized prior to Jan. 1, 2024, to file their beneficial ownership information through the FinCEN website no later than Jan. 1, 2025.

For the time being, enforcement of the CTA and the Jan. 1, 2025, deadline are stayed. If you have not yet completed your filings that would otherwise be due on Jan. 1, 2025, or sooner, you can hold off for the moment.

This is only a preliminary injunction, so FinCEN could appeal, possibly before the end of the year. If FinCEN were to win an appeal, the CTA filing deadline could be reinstated. If you haven’t filed yet, it’s still a good idea to figure out whether your company is exempt and who would be listed as beneficial owners in case the stay goes away. In the alternative, the Texas court could determine that the CTA is unconstitutional, staying enforcement on a more permanent basis.

If you have already made your BOIR filings, there’s no need to take any action at this time.

We’ll keep you posted as there are further developments.