Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of the Job Creators Network, said the new filing requirement for certain small businesses created under the Corporate Transparency Act is “ridiculous” and urged Americans to push back on the measure.
Under the Corporate Transparency Act, small businesses that gross less than $5 million in sales must fill out and file beneficial ownership information reports with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network by January 1, 2025.
Business owners who do not comply with the new law face imprisonment for up to five years and face up to $250,000 in fines.
The Corporate Transparency Act was enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act in 2021 in order to prevent and combat “money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption, and tax fraud.”
While the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act was vetoed by then-President Donald Trump at the time, Congress voted to override the president’s veto, enacting the Corporate Transparency Act.
Ortiz said the fact that small business owners face hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines or even imprisonment over the new law is “ridiculous,” further pointing out how large corporations have been exempt from the filing requirement.
“Large corporations have been carved out of it, so it’s only small businesses that have to comply- the ones that are probably going to be hit with the most burdensome regulation of all. Quite frankly, that’s why myself and 33 million others out there do their business as LLC’s because, you know what, quite frankly, we want to protect ourselves from people that might not like what we do or say. That’s part of the shield that we’re allowed to, by law, protect ourselves, and now we have to put all of our personal information online,” Ortiz explained on Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Ortiz went on to point out that approximately 75 percent of the small business owners that are subject to file the new paperwork under the law are unaware that the law exists.
“We’ve done a poll amongst our small business owners, and it was actually a national poll that showed that just a small percentage of small business owners are aware of this. And when you have compliances that low 9 months into the year, you’re looking at a very ugly situation come January 1, 2025,” Ortiz said.
“You’re going to have millions and millions of small business owners that will be fully exposed to the federal government coming, knocking at their doors, arresting them, or fining them,” Ortiz added.
Ortiz further pointed out that approximately 70 percent of small business owners are Republicans, which means that through the required information under the Corporate Transparency Act, the government “basically” has a “target list” to go after business owners with conservative beliefs.
“About 70 percent of [small businesses], based on our last estimate, are actually Republicans. So it’s interesting that 70 percent of businesses that are out there could be targeted because they’re Republicans. It wouldn’t be a surprise if that really happens. You start creating the list, and that’s basically a target list for the federal government,” Ortiz warned.
Moving forward, Ortiz urged small business owners to call their congressman and urge action be taken to stop the Corporate Transparency Act.
“The biggest thing they can do and the best thing they can do is pick up the phone and call their congressman and start stating their opposition to it,” Ortiz said. “If we all unite and we actually speak up and speak as one voice, I’m really sure that we can actually get this repealed.”
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Alfredo Ortiz” by Alfredo Ortiz.
