Wyoming entrepreneurs grateful state isn't exacerbating federal compliance headache
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tony Gagliardi, Wyoming State Director, [email protected]
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, [email protected]
CHEYENNE, Wyo., Jan. 9, 2024—Release today of the National Federation of Independent Business’ (NFIB) monthly Small Business Optimism Index showed America’s Main Street economy still in its long-running doldrums with a 24th consecutive month below the Index’s 50-year average.
Tony Gagliardi, NFIB’s Wyoming state director, warns the attitude small owners are having could get even worse thanks to a mammoth compliance headache the federal government hit them with at the beginning of 2024. “Unlike other states, Wyoming was smart enough not to sock small business owners with their own compliance burden on top of the federal government’s new Beneficial Ownership Reporting Rule, a huge and continually punishing paperwork requirement.”
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule that sets forth beneficial ownership information reporting requirements as mandated by the Corporate Transparency Act, according to this NFIB-provided fact sheet. The rule, effective January 1, 2024, affects a broad spectrum of businesses (virtually all LLCs, corporations, and entities formed under state or tribal laws with 20 or fewer employees and $5 million or less in gross annual receipts), and requires them to begin filing periodic reports on their beneficial owners to FinCEN.
“Many small business owners are still unaware of the paperwork awaiting them, said Gagliardi, “distracted as they are on the everyday problems that now seem permanent.”
Twenty-three percent of small business owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business, up one point from last month, and replacing labor quality as the top concern, according to the latest Optimism Index report. Other key findings include:
- Small business owners expecting better business conditions over the next six months increased six points from November to a net negative 36% (seasonally adjusted), and 25 percentage points better than last June’s reading of a net negative 61%.
- Seasonally adjusted, a net 29% of owners plan to raise compensation in the next three months, down one point from November.
- The net percent of owners raising average selling prices was unchanged from November at a net 25% (seasonally adjusted).
- The net percent of owners who expect real sales to be higher increased four points from November to a net negative 4% (seasonally adjusted), the highest reading since January 2022.
“Small business owners remain very pessimistic about economic prospects this year,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Inflation and labor quality have consistently been a tough complication for small business owners, and they are not convinced that it will get better in 2024.”
Keep up with the latest Wyoming small-business news at www.nfib.com/WY and on Twitter @NFIB_WY
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For 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since its founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.
NFIB Wyoming
P.O. Box 1890
Cheyenne, WY 82009
866-639-1846
NFIB.com/WY
Twitter: @NFIB_WY
