The National Small Business Association, joined by a coalition of small-business organizations, is urging the U.S. Treasury Department to immediately purge beneficial ownership information collected under the Corporate Transparency Act from companies no longer required to file.
In a letter sent this week to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the coalition called on Treasury to dispose of sensitive data already submitted by an estimated 16 million domestic businesses before a March 2025 interim rule exempted U.S.-based companies from filing Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reports.
Those reports, maintained by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, include personal details such as passport and driver’s license numbers. NSBA argues retaining that information unnecessarily exposes small businesses to cybersecurity risks while creating uncertainty about how long the data will be stored.
The coalition also pressed Treasury to finalize a rule formally codifying the domestic filing exemption and urged Congress to fully repeal the CTA, which NSBA has long opposed as unconstitutional and overly burdensome for small businesses.
While a recent Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision upheld Congress’ authority to enact the CTA, Treasury’s interim rule means U.S. small businesses are not currently required to file new ownership reports. NSBA said businesses deserve clarity on when previously submitted data will be permanently disposed of rather than “warehoused indefinitely.”
