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.
are there any law enforcement people on this thread who already know the best way to — foil human smugglers, drug traffickers and terrorists—after they have already crossed the border and penetrated into the country,.
are there any law enforcement people on this thread who already know the best way to — foil human smugglers, drug traffickers and terrorists—after they have already crossed the border and penetrated into the country,.
I recall getting a rather nosy “survey” form last year that I promptly tossed. Sure enough, another one showed up and this time, I wrote with a Sharpie diagonally across each page, “THIS IS NOT A FARM.” I mean, if the wife wants to grow effing petunias, it’s none of their effing business. The gist of the questions was that if you had acreage, then you must be making money on it somehow amd they wanted to know how much.
“The government says the information collected from small businesses will ferret out shell companies…”
Will it ferret out the myriad Biden Syndicate shell companies?
Guilty until proven innocent.
Who are they kidding? We’re deliberately letting these people in willy-nilly!
Exactly.
And, exactly how we know it’s NOT the invaders, smugglers or terrorists they’re really after.
Is a pot farm in a National Forest a ‘Small Farm’?
“It’s the little guy that is covered by this reporting requirement,”
= = =
the little guy gets up before sun up and gets to work.
comes in for a quick bite and back to work.
lunch, and back to work.
finally some dinner, and some evening chores like feeding and irrigation.
bed.
OOPS. Where is the time go fill out these (@$^@@#$$%$%^) govt. forms???
Russian oligarch whose use of shell companies to evade sanctions unraveled when Spanish authorities seized his 255-foot luxury yacht.
= = =
So, what was he farming on ths yacht?
Probably STDs.
I think I will do as well...
Showing why it's so important to have control of the executive branch and also why no matter how lost in space the dementia patient in the While House is, as long as his administration keeps churning out regulations like this, the RAT voters will stay with him.
It's real, it's global and they are quite serious about it.
There is only one solution...
“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.”
That is downright scary. There truly is no legit reason for this except intimidation.
This isn’t just for farms. It’s any small business that is an LLC, etc. Of course large businesses are exempted. Trump has to kill this thing.
Biden administration doesn’t want the public to know who the democrats illegal voters are.
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