BREAKING NEWS – Corporate Transparency Act on Hold
as of Monday, March 3, 2024
On Friday March 1, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alabama declared the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) unconstitutional. In the case of National Small Business Association v. Yellen (Case No. 5:22-cv-01448) [1], initiated by the National Small Business United, the challenge was against the CTA’s mandate for small businesses to disclose their beneficial owners to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
The ruling has the effect of suspending all BOI filing requirements for now, all enforcement actions, and all compliance concerns including questions of “practicing law without a license.” Experts believe the ruling will be appealed, probably to the Supreme Court, so this is a temporary filing requirement suspension until a final appeal is exhausted. Voluntary filing appears to still be allowed if for some reason a client desires to file.
Guidance on Crowdfunding and Taxes
Crowdfunding has become one of the most popular ways to raise money for charities, businesses, and people enduring hardships. Depending on a variety of circumstances, money raised through a crowdfunding campaign may be either taxable or non-taxable.
In many cases, if people donate to a crowdfunding campaign and receive nothing in return, the IRS treats the donations as gifts. Therefore, the person who receives the funds may exclude them from their gross income for tax purposes. Also, if you organize a crowdfunding campaign for someone else’s benefit, you may exclude the funds raised from your own income, as long as you do not keep any of the money for yourself.
However, there are situations where funds received through crowdfunding are taxable, such as when an employer contributes to a campaign for an employee. Taxpayers generally must also report income received via crowdfunding if contributors get goods or services in exchange for their donations.
If the funds raised exceed $600 or contributors receive goods or services, you may get a Form 1099-K from the crowdfunding website.