U.S. House Approves Bill To Delay Corporate Transparency Act Implementation

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved H.R. 736, the Protect Small Business from Excessive Paperwork Act of 2025, which would provide a one-year delay for small businesses that are required to report their beneficial ownership information under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).

As Connecting the Dots has explained in previous editions, before federal court rulings halted implementation of the CTA, small businesses that met certain criteria would have had to file ownership reports with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) or risk fines and criminal penalties. The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) and allies have argued this rule would impose significant, costly new requirements on small businesses without meeting the CTA’s stated goal to reduce money laundering and corporate corruption.

Passage of H.R. 736 is more important than ever. That is because, on Feb. 5, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a notice of appeal of a district court’s ruling that had caused FinCEN to pause data collection under the CTA. Specifically, the government asked the appellate court to stay the nationwide injunction against the CTA’s reporting requirements pending a ruling in the case, meaning the current pause could be undone by the courts at any point.

The business groups fighting the CTA had hoped the Trump administration would not appeal the ruling and instead allow the current injunction to remain in place, but that unfortunately is not how things played out. Whether the Supreme Court weighs in will depend on how the DOJ handles matters moving forward.

The good news is that if the courts reinstate CTA filing, FinCEN has said it will grant entities a 30-day grace period to make their filings. In fact, shortly after the DOJ’s appeal was filed, FinCEN posted the following announcement on its website: “If the district court’s order is stayed, thereby allowing FinCEN’s Reporting Rule to come back into effect, FinCEN intends to extend the reporting deadline for all reporting companies 30 days from the date the stay is granted.”

The bad news is the Trump administration’s appeal still leaves much up in the air. Stay tuned to Connecting the Dots for up-to-date information regarding the CTA.

As always, comprehensive information about the CTA is available on FinCEN’s website

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