Small businesses have been through hell these last four years. The economy has been volatile, with inflation and input costs skyrocketing due to the Biden administration’s reckless spending policies. If the little guy was able to overcome these obstacles, he was met with burdensome laws and regulations, taking whatever wind was left from the sails of his operation.
Sadly, there’s another hurdle small businesses may face in the very near future. It’s called the Corporate Transparency Act, which became law in 2021 and is set to be implemented this month. Championed by progressive Democrats, this legislation was slipped into the National Defense Authorization Act, generally considered “must-pass” legislation.
The CTA requires people with “substantial control” over a company, an equity position of 25% or greater, to disclose personal data to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. People with a CTA filing obligation must report their name, date of birth, address, and a scan of their government-issued photo ID to the Treasury Department. Any time this information changes, updated information must be submitted to FinCEN’s database within 30 days.
As if these new requirements aren’t daunting enough for small business owners, those who fail to comply with the law can face up to $10,000 in fines and up to two years in prison. The CTA’s provisions originally required business owners to file by Jan. 1. An injunction is blocking the law from taking effect, but there is no telling how long the injunction will hold.
America’s small business owners have been forced to storm a rocky economy under an administration that has been hostile to them for four years. Now, debilitating fines and jail time are on the horizon. It is unacceptable that small business owners need to overcome laws such as this in America today. It’s big government overreach at its worst.
That is why, this week, I reintroduced my bill, the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act, to overturn the CTA in its entirety. I am proud to be joined in this effort by Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), who is filing a companion bill in the House of Representatives. This is a much-needed piece of legislation that will help small businesses succeed, not suffocate. It will stop Big Brother from bearing down on them, threatening to throw them in prison for noncompliance.
Unfortunately, we’ve become all too accustomed to oppressive laws such as these. Laws such as the CTA are something left-wing politicians love to tout as “evidence” of their commitment to going after corporate corruption. It makes for good campaign slogans. But ultimately, it only disadvantages hard-working people attempting to get their operations off the ground. Much like the Inflation Reduction Act, a bill that sounded good on its face but only accelerated inflation, the CTA is anything but good legislation. In short, it’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
At first brush, I understand why many people might not find the bill objectionable. Who doesn’t like transparency? Indeed, the original purpose of the CTA was to crack down on shell companies used to commit crimes. But like the arguments Democrats embrace when promoting gun control, the reality is that lawbreakers are not going to comply with the law. Shell companies won’t file with FinCEN. As is typical with the Left, the regulations they support, intended to crack down on bad actors, only burden law-abiding citizens.
And who specifically bears the brunt of the CTA’s administrative burdens? Millions of hardworking business owners. These are small businesses that don’t have easy access to the staff, time, or resources necessary to comply with the law. Meanwhile, bigger operations have the compliance staff, lawyers, and capital to cover their bases.
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Moreover, the CTA is a law that could be easily weaponized by the federal government to go after its political opponents. We saw this occur in the Obama years, when Lois Lerner used the Internal Revenue Service to target conservative organizations. And over the last four years, the Biden administration’s weaponization has made the Obama administration look like the junior varsity team.
As America enters a new golden age with the election of President-elect Donald Trump to his second term, we need to unleash the power of small businesses in the country. Small businesses are the bedrock of the American dream. I am calling on my Senate colleagues to support my legislation so we can get the federal government off the backs of business owners and let them flourish. Because when they flourish, America flourishes.
Tommy Tuberville is a U.S. senator from Alabama.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
