Client Alert 3/5/25: CTA Enforcement in Doubt For Domestic Reporting Companies

On March 2, 2025, the US Treasury Department further announced in a press release that the Department has no intention to enforce any penalties or fines against US Citizens or US domestic reporting companies for failing to report under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”). While this announcement along with FinCen’s Alerts in February do not change or cancel the CTA, which has been statutorily enacted, this does seem to indicate that enforcement by FinCen against US persons and entities is unlikely in the near future. At this time, an interim rule is still expected by March 21, 2025 and this rule should help clarify these recent announcements.    

Given the continued uncertainty, Commonwealth continues to advise clients to continue to gather information needed to file and encourage domestic reporting companies to file if they desire to do so. Foreign reporting companies should continue to be prepared to file by March 21, 2025 if they have not done so already.   

Commonwealth will continue to monitor the developments surrounding the many Federal agency announcements, court challenges, and congressional actions regarding the CTA. While the statute remains in effect, the US Department of Treasury does not appear to have any intention to take enforcement action against most reportable companies unless it is a foreign reportable company.    

For more updates see FinCEN’s CTA website at: https://fincen.gov/boi.

Commonwealth Trust Company is pleased to provide this article as a guide. Commonwealth Trust Company is not engaged in the practice of law and is not providing legal advice by the provision of these materials. Commonwealth Trust Company recommends that clients seek the opinion of their attorney regarding the specific legal and tax issues addressed in this article.