On Monday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court lifted a federal district court’s earlier order, which had previously halted the January 1, 2025 deadline for small businesses to file their beneficial ownership information with the Treasury Department.
The Corporate Transparency Act passed by Congress in 2021 requires the paperwork to be filed by the Treasury’s Finanicial Crimes Enforcement Network. The CTA requires that owners and part-owners of an estimated 32.6 million small businesses, including 230,000 farms, must register their personal information with FinCEN.
The American Farm Bureau estimates that this appeals court ruling now puts tens of thousands of farms back on the legal deadline to register their businesses with the federal government. Of the 230,000 farms that are likely required to file, only 11 percent had done so as of October.
Farmers are encouraged to contact an accountant or an attorney if they are unsure about whether they are required to file the information.
-NAFB