Owners of most existing corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, or other business entities are about to encounter the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The CTA is scheduled to go into effect for small businesses that exist on January 1, 2024.
Reporting for such businesses must be completed before January 1, 2025. Failure to comply with this new filing requirement can result in hefty monetary penalties and up to two years in prison.
As with FinCEN. The CTA came about because of The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA). Information collected via the CTA will be stored in a private database.
The CTA is intended to give law enforcement agencies greater access to the beneficial ownership information of entities. Instead of financial institutions collecting customer due diligence, information will be in the hands of the federal government.
Private companies that rely on shell companies and other means questionable means of holding assets will be hit hardest by the new push towards transparency. Unfortunately, the costs to comply will often be shouldered by small businesses. As the saying goes, one bad apple spoils the whole bunch.
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