WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 21, 2026) – In a new Washington Post column, the Editorial Board argues that the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is unconstitutional and should be repealed, citing NFIB’s lawsuit. The Editorial Board explains that the CTA has led to significant financial costs and privacy concerns for small business owners.

The Editorial Board writes:

“The Corporate Transparency Act, in addition to being unconstitutional, is so confusing that the federal government’s “Frequently Asked Questions” webpage about it has 122 questions.

“Its goal was to combat money laundering through shell companies by requiring small businesses to report the names of their “beneficial owners” to the Treasury Department, so they “can be compiled into a database for law enforcement.

“This has created significant compliance costs, more than $1 billion a year by one estimate, with little to no public benefit.

“One might think it would be easy to report a corporation’s owners, but the law’s murky definition of ownership includes anyone with “substantial control” of a corporation’s operations. For a small business with, say, 10 employees, that could be everyone.”

[…]

“When challenged in court, government lawyers threw everything at the wall, hoping something would stick. They claimed it was justified as a regulation of interstate commerce, even though incorporation is a noncommercial act that occurs under the laws of one state. They also claimed it was part of the federal taxing power, even though the law contains no taxes.

“A federal district court struck down the law as unconstitutional in 2024, before even reaching the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendment concerns that the law also presents. Unfortunately, a more national-security-minded appellate court reversed that decision in 2025. Other challenges have been brought in other districts as well.”

Read the full column here.