UPDATED DEC. 27 - Please note that the information below is UPDATED from an email sent to TMA members on Tuesday, Dec. 24. 

A different panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has reinstated the nationwide injunction on the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and final rules on December 26. That means that most corporations now do not have to file FinCEN reports in January 2025.

On December 23, a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order staying a previous federal court ruling previously entered. As of December 26, that stay is reversed and the injunction is back in effect.

The Confusing Timeline:

On January 1, 2024, the Corporate Transparency Act went in effect. It required that many U.S. business owners file corporate transparency reports with beneficial ownership information with the federal government. The original deadline for most corporations was January 1, 2025.

On December 3, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas entered a nationwide preliminary injunction enjoining the enforcement of the federal CTA and the reporting deadline. The preliminary injunction applied to all reporting companies governed by the CTA and the Final Rule.

On December 23, a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the January 2025 deadline. FinCEN followed closely thereafter, setting a January 13, 2025 compliance deadline for reporting companies in existence prior to 2024.

On December 26, another panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstituted the nationwide preliminary injunction enjoining the enforcement of the federal CTA and the reporting deadline. Filings are not required. Entities that already filed need take no further action. That is where we stand…as of now. TMA will continue to monitor this saga.

Members may access our Law Guide topic, Corporate Transparency Act, on our website at tnmed.org/legal. Member login required.

Questions may be addressed to the TMA legal department at legal@tnmed.org.