A federal district court in Alabama issued a significant decision in National Small Business United v. Yellen on March 1, declaring the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) unconstitutional as it exceeds the Constitution’s limits on the power of Congress.1
Background of the CTA
The CTA, enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, aims to combat money laundering and terrorist financing by requiring certain businesses to report beneficial ownership information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). This information includes beneficial owners’ full legal names, dates of birth, residential street addresses, and the identifying number and an image of a government-issued identification document. Although the CTA passed with bipartisan support, it was criticized by some business groups that argued the act imposed a heavy reporting burden on legitimate businesses.
The plaintiffs in this case included one such group: National Small Business United, a nonprofit trade group also known as the National Small Business Association (NSBA) that represents more than 65,000 member companies. Plaintiff Isaac Winkles owns an Alabama corporation that is an NSBA member. The plaintiffs filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama challenging the constitutionality of the CTA. The named defendants were the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and FinCEN Acting Director Himamauli Das in their official capacities. Ultimately, the court sided with the plaintiffs and held that the CTA was unconstitutional.
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1 National Small Business United v. Yellen, No. 5:22-cv-01448 (N.D. Ala. March 1, 2024).
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