Posted on 03/24/2024 5:23:22 PM PDT by aimhigh
A constitutional battle is shaping up over whether the U.S. government can force the owners and top employees of small businesses to send their addresses and photo IDs to federal financial crime investigators. The Biden administration has appealed a decision by a federal judge in Alabama, who ruled this month the Corporate Transparency Act exceeded the powers granted to Congress by the Constitution.
The government says the information collected from small businesses will ferret out shell companies and help law and intelligence officers foil human smugglers, drug traffickers and terrorists. The appeal has a good chance because courts rarely strike down Congress' broad powers to regulate commerce, said Kristine Tidgren, director of the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at Iowa State University.
"If I were betting, I would bet the law will be upheld," Tidgren said Wednesday during a webinar hosted by the National Agricultural Law Center. Congress inserted the act into the 2021 defense budget, but the law didn't go into effect until this year. The law applies to corporations with fewer than 20 employees and gross revenue of under $5 million.
"It's the little guy that is covered by this reporting requirement," Tidgren said. "The government already knows who owns the large entities." The average U.S. farm in 2022 sold $285,000 worth of goods, according to the USDA census of agriculture. Most farms likely will fall under the law, Tidgren said. "Everybody is sort of realizing, 'Wow, this really is a big deal,' " she said. "I say the impact of the law is seismic. I'm not being facetious when I say they want names and physical addresses because they need to know where to send, for example, a SWAT team," she said.
In explaining the regulations, the Treasury Department cited the case of a Russian oligarch whose use of shell companies to evade sanctions unraveled when Spanish authorities seized his 255-foot luxury yacht. The National Small Business Association sued, claiming the law, even if well intentioned, was an insidious encroachment on the liberty of law-abiding U.S. citizens not suspected of anything. Under the law, anyone who owns at least 25% of a small business or has "substantial influence" must submit their full legal names, dates of birth and physical addresses, and a copy of official photo identification, such as a driver's license.
Failing to report can result in fines of $500 a day, up to $10,000, and two years in prison. Initial reports are due Jan. 1, 2025. Any changes must be reported within 30 days. The Treasury Department estimates the law will cover 32.6 million businesses, which will spend $21.7 billion filing the reports this year. The law is expected to apply to 5 million new businesses every year.
U.S. District Judge Liles C. Burke in Northern Alabama said the law may be good policy, but it wasn't constitutional. Burke, a Trump appointee, rejected government arguments that the law was within Congress' authority to regulate foreign affairs or commerce. The act regulated purely domestic actions, and the word "commerce" doesn't even appear in the act, Burke noted. The founders intentionally gave jurisdiction over corporations to states, the judge wrote.
The appeal has gone to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. For now, Burke's ruling only applies to the 65,000 businesses that belonged to the National Small Business Association on the day he issued the opinion, March 1. Other businesses can watch the legal battle unfold, but shouldn't wait too long to file, Tidgren said. She advised businesses to consult with guidance from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
It gets worse with every passing day.
“...and help law and intelligence officers foil human smugglers, drug traffickers and terrorists.”
If I were a judge, given this Administration’s horrific track record, I’d IMMEDIATELY end the trial and rule against the government. Plus look into perjury charges.
Yes, it does.
Not if you both were playing for the same team.
I will not comply...
The ONLY way I have found fresh unadulterated food for past 4 years has been at small farms. More thoughts about what’s happening I’ll keep to myself
So the deepstate unconstitutional fascist traitors invoke patriotism and anti-Russianism. They are the anti-Russians. Zeepers will laugh with glee as they line up to send in their pictures and personal information which is needed to fight the Russians who aren't them, but Zeepers are fools.
“The government says the information collected from small businesses will ferret out shell companies...”
No doubt that Joe and Hunter can advise on how shell companies work.
Ping!
The ONLY way I have found fresh unadulterated food for past 4 years has been at small farms.
More thoughts about what’s happening I’ll keep to myself
Don’t hold back! Do please share.
Agree.
:-(
Me wondering. In Florida, many of us that own acreage, greenbelt it to get a tax break. Either grow trees or feed cattle. Even if I have no income from it and barter/lease it to a neighbor, this may impact me.
Feds can go to he!!.
$500/day to $10,000 fine.
The Feds are just itching for new revenue sources! Wrote to NFIB I thought they’d be party to the lawsuit to protect us members! 🤷♂️
But yhe Chinese “farms” are exempt...right?
Same goes for those purchasing acreage for their illegal pot grows.
Who are they kidding? We're deliberately letting these people in willy-nilly!
There are pigs running wild on the White House lawn!
Pinko Dems working hard every day to crush the little man.
Must be Blacks are excluded from this reporting rule as we all know they can’t obtain photo IDs.
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