WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Chairman Roger Williams (R-TX) led a full Committee on Small Business hearing titled “Under the Microscope: Examining FinCEN’s Implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act.” Chairman Williams issued the following statement after today’s hearing.

“Today’s hearing showed the confusion small business owners are facing with the Biden Administration’s implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act ,” said Chairman Williams. “When the regulations are so confusing that lawyers and accountants are afraid to take action, you know something needs to change. I look forward to working with my colleagues to get FinCEN to make these regulations easier to understand for all parties involved.”

---

Watch the full hearing here.

Below are some key excerpts from today’s hearing:

Chairman Williams: “When Congress updated the Corporate Transparency Act, the intent was not to burden out nation's job creators with costly new reporting requirements. So, Mr. Harris, do you have any estimations on the overall cost of complying with this rule, and how could FinCEN make the process easier for small business to comply?” Mr. Harris: “That's what we're still trying to determine, is what is our cost. And risk is a big part of making that assessment. I mean, yes, you can fill the form out in 15 minutes, but what all had to go into it prior to that, 15 minutes from legal and risk assessment. That's what we're trying to assess because we don't want to make this a burden on our small business clients because most of them are just honest, good-working, hardworking people. They have no problem doing this as long as it can be done quickly and affordably. So I don't have an answer today. It's too much right now for us to be willing to do, but we're trying to get there.”

Rep. Luetkemeyer: “Ms. Roth, I agree with you wholeheartedly. I just hate this rule. I fought it from the very beginning once it got implemented. We're trying to figure out how to make it minimally impactful on our on our folks. Instead, we found out with this complex law now we’re playing a game of gotcha. It's basically what the administration is doing here with this because we had to kind of refine down to, I think, I think something that everybody could probably live with a postcard with four questions on it that reveal your name, address, Social Security number, and ownership. I mean, that should be pretty simple. But now they're turning this monstrosity. How would you see us? What would you recommend for us to do to change this thing, to make it short of getting it out? You know, getting rid of it altogether? How can we make it less intrusive?” Ms. Roth: “Well, I think that, you know, when we're talking about costs and making it less intrusive, one of the key costs we're not talking about is risk. And that is the risk that this information gets in the wrong hands. That's the risk that they're going to get enormous fines, that somebody is going to say, oh, you willfully forgot this for a year, and now all of a sudden you owe $215,000 or jail time. There is an asymmetric risk problem going on here. And that is the number one biggest cost of this right now.”

Rep. Stauber: “It is clear the Biden Administration’s priorities aren't with the men and women who owned small businesses. Forcing the collection of personal data from millions of small businesses opens them up to potential data breaches and fraud. FinCEN hasn't helped provide much clarity on reporting at this moment either. Mr. Opsitnick, many small businesses are unaware that this reporting obligation is impending. Can you please talk about the potential consequence of noncompliance with the BOI rule?” Mr. Opsitnick: “The consequence is devastating to a small business. To think that you could go to jail for two years for failing to comply or that you would get civil penalties as well, it would be devastating. In my own experience is that there's simply nobody's aware of this. And in the boards that I'm on, who would have some responsibilities, the non-profits, you know, my local, my local sportsmen's club, my homeowner's association, these issues have never been raised. I've never received letters from my small businesses from FinCEN. The only reason I'm aware is because I happen to be a past chair of the local chamber of commerce, where we, we're very much involved in these issues.”

###