GCCA Joins Industry Partners in Support of Protecting Small Business Information Act

GCCA, along with Industry allies recently sent a letter in support of the Protecting Small Business Information Act of 2023 (H.R. 4035).  The legislation would delay implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act’s (CTA) reporting requirement, until the Treasury Department finishes its rulemaking process.  The CTA was passed along with the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, with the goal of preventing the funding of terrorists and other illicit activities. The statute requires the submission of regular reports to the federal government, beginning on January 1, 2024, that include a litany of sensitive personal identifiers of the owners and senior employees and/or advisors of covered entities.  Companies that fail to will be faced with exponential fines each day as the violation continues.  These penalties may be escalated to criminal charges with up to a $10,000 fine and two years jail time.  The letter highlights concerns that the Treasury Department has not yet released the responsibilities companies will be expected to maintain under the rule, nor have they finalized the rule and process of how and when companies can access the FinCEN database.  The passage of the Protecting Small Business Information Act will prevent the CTA’s overly burdensome and unpredictable compliance regime from wrongly affecting business and will provide much needed time for law-abiding Americans to comply with the new statute.