Co-presenter: Mind Your Money! Tax Incentives, Business Opportunities, and Compliance Considerations for Expanding Abroad, U.S.-Caribbean Business Conference, September 2023
Co-presenter: The New Corporate Transparency Act in the United States, Pangea-Net's Annual Tax Practice Meeting, October 2022
Speaker: "Latin American and Other International Corporate and Fiscal Transparency Developments," Javeriana Univ. School of Law, Bogota, Columbia, October 2022
Speaker: "Regional Legislative Tax Trends in a Post COVID-19 Landscape," 2021 Americas Regional Conference, Crowe Global Live Webcast, August 2021
Speaker: "U.S. and Romanian Tax Considerations for Cross-Border Investments and the Mobile Workforce," Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce, March 2021
Speaker: "Tax Incentive Strategy for U.S. Exporters: Interest-Charge DISC, Impact of TCJA, and Possible Biden Tax Reform Impact," Lorman, March 2021
Speaker: "Overview of Choice of Entity Considerations and U.S. Income Tax Treaties," Lorman, July 2020
Contributor & Editor: Ch. 18 "Finance and Licensing Companies" (at p. 149-164), in Practical International Tax Planning for UK Businesses, Croner-i Ltd., December 2018
Speaker: "FATCA/Common Reporting Standard: The Road to Fiscal Transparency - the U.S. Perspective," Crowe Horwath International Regional Americas Meeting, San Jose, Costa Rica, May 2017
Speaker: "A Primer on Accounting Methods, Changes in Methods, and Elections for Companies with International Operations (& International Tax Legislative and Regulatory Updates)," Tax Executive Institute - Virginia Chapter, March 2017
ARTICLES
March 26, 2025
On March 21, 2025, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, issued an interim final rule (the “Interim Rule”) under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) whereby it (i) significantly revised the statutory definition of “reporting company”, (ii) exempts domestic entities from beneficial ownership reporting requirements, (iii) limits the scope of the CTA to non-U.S. persons, i.e., entities formed under the laws of a foreign country and (iv) that are registered to do business in any state or tribal jurisdiction in the United States, and adds an exemption from reporting, as discussed below, by moving the term “domestic reporting company” to a new exemption.
March 5, 2025
On March 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”)
announced that it will not impose penalties, fines, or pursue enforcement actions against U.S. companies, citizens, or their beneficial owners for failing to file beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) reports, pursuant to the Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirements final rule (31 C.F.R. 1010.380) (the “Reporting Rule”), the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) (31 U.S.C. § 5336), even after any forthcoming deadline extensions or changes to the Reporting Rule. Treasury’s announcement follows earlier guidance from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) (the Treasury bureau responsible for enforcing the CTA)—which suspended enforcement of the March 21, 2025, filing deadline.
February 20, 2025
On February 17, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas lifted the last remaining nationwide injunction against enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) previously issued in
Smith v. US Dep’t of the Treasury, clearing the way for the law’s implementation. This marks a significant development following the U.S. Supreme Court’s January 23, 2025, order in
McHenry v. Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc., which lifted a separate nationwide injunction issued by another Texas federal district court. However, due to delays in the Justice Department’s motion in
Smith, the CTA’s implementation remained blocked nationwide until now.
December 30, 2024
The ongoing legal saga in the federal courts surrounding the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) (31 U.S.C. § 5336) has reversed course, yet again.
December 24, 2024
On December 23, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted the government’s emergency motion for a temporary stay of a district court’s order and nationwide injunction against the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and its corresponding Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Reporting Rule.
December 9, 2024
Following a Texas federal district court’s issuance of a nationwide injunction temporarily halting enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”), the U.S. government has filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, challenging the district court’s findings (found
here). In response to both the national injunction and the appeal, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), the agency responsible for enforcing the CTA, issued guidance (found
here) clarifying that reporting companies are not currently required to file beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) reports and will not face liability for noncompliance “while the preliminary injunction remains in effect.”
December 4, 2024
On December 3, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas,
Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Merrick Garland (Civil Action No. 4:24-CV-478), issued a memorandum opinion and order granting a nationwide preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) and its implementing regulations and staying the compliance deadline for reporting companies pending further order of the court.
April 1, 2024
The Corporate Transparency Act’s (the “CTA”) reporting requirements are effective as of January 1, 2024. The one-pager linked in this article provides information on reporting requirements and deadlines.
March 4, 2024
On March 1, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in National Small Business United et al. v. Janet Yellen et. al., Case No. 5:22-cv-1448-LCB, held the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”) to be unconstitutional. In this surprising decision, U.S. District Court Judge Liles C. Burke ruled “The CTA is unconstitutional because it cannot be justified as exercise of Congress’ enumerated powers.”
January 2, 2024
The Corporate Transparency Act’s (the “CTA”) reporting requirements are effective as of January 1, 2024. As a result, many companies in the United States will have to report information about their beneficial owners, i.e., the individuals who ultimately own or control the company. They will have to report the information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
June 26, 2023
What is the Corporate Transparency Act?
On January 1, 2021, heightened entity and beneficial ownership reporting arrived in the United States with the enactment of the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”), part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. The policy behind the CTA is to strengthen reporting and transparency as to who the beneficial economic owners are of business enterprises doing business in the United States. Prior to the passage of the CTA, the United States was viewed by some in the international marketplace as a tax haven for those looking to create shell companies to hide their assets through the formation of business entities in jurisdictions like Delaware or Florida, for instance.
March 3, 2023
FBARs in a Nutshell and the Concerns
FBAR Requirements: Pursuant to the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) (31 U.S.C. § 5314 et seq.), U.S. persons, individuals and companies, are required on a calendar basis to report each year to the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) all financial interests in and signature authority over foreign financial accounts on FinCen Form 114 Foreign Bank Account Reports (“FBARs”). The FBAR filing threshold is triggered upon having account assets exceeding $10,000 USD in the aggregate at any time during the calendar year. The deadline for filing FBARs is April 15 with an automatic extension to October 15 each year.
September 7, 2022
The Inflation Reduction Act (the “Act”), signed into law on August 16, 2022, creates new opportunities for the renewable energy industry and is a welcome change in an industry accustomed to uncertainty regarding its primary financial incentives. The Act’s provisions modified many of the clean energy credit and incentive provisions of last year’s Build Back Better Act. The Act earmarks $374 billion for decarbonization and modernization of U.S. manufacturing in the renewable energy sector (the “Renewable Sector”).
August 25, 2022
The summer so far has provided us much excitement in the international realm. A few major highlights worthy of mention are included in this alert.
August 10, 2022
This week the Senate has advanced the landmark tax, climate, and healthcare bill known as the Inflation Reduction Act (H.R. 5376) (“IRA”) which will be considered by the House of Representatives in the coming days and, if passed, will arrive on President Biden’s desk for signature into law.
PRESENTATIONS
March 25, 2021
Watch this webinar presented by the Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. and hosted by Whiteford, Taylor & Preston to learn from experienced tax advisors and attorneys from the U.S. and Romania about practical ways to handle tax issues relevant to cross-border transactions and remote work.
