As I reported yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. et al v. Merrick Garland, Attorney General of the United States et al., lifted the Fifth Circuit’s injunction, that had been preventing the government from enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”). However, as reported by Mengqi Sun of The Wall Street Journal, there is another Texas court (the Eastern District of Texas) where the judge issued a nationwide injunction against the government’s enforcement of the CTA and that the injunction remains in place. The Wall Street Journal further reported that there has been no appeal of that decision to a higher court.
I last reported on December 27, 2024, that the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) hit yet another speed bump. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (“Fifth Circuit”) put the CTA on ice as of December 24, 2024, restraining the government from enforcing the new law while it heard the underlying matter in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. et al v. Merrick Garland, Attorney General of the United States et al.
On December 31, 2024, the government petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court (“Supreme Court”), asking it to remove the stay, allowing the government to enforce the CTA pending the outcome of the Fifth Circuit case and the Supreme Court’s decision should it accept a writ of certiorari and ultimately rule on the constitutionality of the CTA.
INTRODUCTION
On December 6, 2024, I reported that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. et al v. Merrick Garland, Attorney General of the United States et al, issued a 79-page decision, including a preliminary injunction, creating a nationwide prohibition against the government enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”).
As suspected, the government immediately filed an emergency appeal, asking the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (“Fifth Circuit”) to stay the injunction and to hear its arguments in favor of overturning the Texas court’s decision.
Larry J. Brant
Editor
Larry J. Brant is a Shareholder and the Chair of the Tax & Benefits practice group at Foster Garvey, a law firm based out of the Pacific Northwest, with offices in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Washington, D.C.; New York, New York, Spokane, Washington; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Beijing, China. Mr. Brant is licensed to practice in Oregon and Washington. His practice focuses on tax, tax controversy and transactions. Mr. Brant is a past Chair of the Oregon State Bar Taxation Section. He was the long-term Chair of the Oregon Tax Institute, and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Portland Tax Forum. Mr. Brant has served as an adjunct professor, teaching corporate taxation, at Northwestern School of Law, Lewis and Clark College. He is an Expert Contributor to Thomson Reuters Checkpoint Catalyst. Mr. Brant is a Fellow in the American College of Tax Counsel. He publishes articles on numerous income tax issues, including Taxation of S Corporations, Reasonable Compensation, Circular 230, Worker Classification, IRC § 1031 Exchanges, Choice of Entity, Entity Tax Classification, and State and Local Taxation. Mr. Brant is a frequent lecturer at local, regional and national tax and business conferences for CPAs and attorneys. He was the 2015 Recipient of the Oregon State Bar Tax Section Award of Merit.