President Joe Biden’s administration has called on the Supreme Court to reinstate a controversial law targetting small businesses.
The law required millions of small businesses to report personal information to the federal government to supposedly prevent money laundering.
The Corporate Transparency Act requires businesses with less than 20 employees to report personal information about their owners to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
The penalties for violating the reporting requirements are draconian.
Business owners who fail to comply could face two years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Information that must be submitted includes owners’ names, home addresses, and photo IDs.
The government has defended the law as a powerful tool to combat bad actors who operate using shell companies.
But the law’s sweeping scope is set to impact millions of perfectly legitimate small businesses just trying to get by.
A federal district court struck the law down in early December, finding the law stretched the government’s power to regulate commerce.
However, continued legal developments have left business owners in limbo.
The Biden admin petitioned the Supreme Court Tuesday to allow the law to be enforced while an appeal plays out.
In a written application, Solicitor General Elizabeth