Palmetto State News

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has taken a leading role in a multi-state effort to challenge the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The initiative involves a 25-state brief filed in federal court, urging the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a previous ruling that declared the CTA unconstitutional.

Attorney General Wilson criticized the federal government's approach, stating, “Right before Christmas, the federal government is acting like Ebenezer Scrooge by trying to squeeze billions of dollars out of small businesses.” He further claimed it as an overreach by the Biden-Harris administration that could negatively impact the economy.

The CTA mandates businesses with 20 or fewer employees to disclose personal identifying information about their "beneficial owners" to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s criminal enforcement bureau. Beneficial owners are defined as individuals with substantial control over a business or those owning or controlling at least 25 percent of its interest.

Compliance with this act is projected to cost small businesses nationwide approximately $30 billion and require over 150 million hours within just two years. A federal court previously ruled against the constitutionality of the CTA last March, but this decision was appealed by the Biden-Harris administration.

The coalition of states opposing this appeal argues that besides imposing burdens on small businesses, the CTA infringes upon states’ rights to regulate corporate formation. Alongside South Carolina, West Virginia and Kansas co-lead this opposition brief joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.