Letter to Treasury Secretary Bessent: 100 Small Business Groups Urge Treasury to Purge CTA Database

By SBE Council at 20 January, 2026, 10:00 pm

The Honorable Scott Bessent

Secretary of the Treasury

U.S. Department of the Treasury

1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20220

Dear Secretary Bessent:

The undersigned organizations, representing millions of Main Street businesses operating in every industry and community in America, urge the Department of the Treasury to immediately purge the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) database of all beneficial ownership information submitted by domestic entities that are no longer required to file. We also ask that you move quickly to promulgate the final rule exempting US businesses from the reporting requirement.

Last year, the Administration took the important step of narrowing the CTA’s scope to apply to foreign entities only. That action provided much-needed relief to over 32 million domestic businesses swept into a regime intended to target international money laundering and terrorism financing, not law-abiding American business owners.

Before Treasury corrected course, some 16 million domestic entities had complied with the CTA’s reporting requirements. These beneficial owners’ sensitive personal information –  ncluding their names, addresses, and passport or driver’s license numbers – remains in a database managed by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, exposing them to ongoing cybersecurity and unauthorized disclosure risks.

The legal landscape surrounding the CTA reinforces the urgency of this request. There are now twelve federal cases challenging the validity of the CTA, including two that have ruled at the District Court level that the CTA is unconstitutional – National Small Business United v. Yellen and Small Business Association of Michigan v. Yellen in the Western District of Michigan. While the Eleventh Circuit recently reversed the NSBA ruling, that case is headed to the Supreme Court and the constitutional questions surrounding the CTA are far from settled.

Given this legal uncertainty and the fact that domestic businesses are no longer subject to the CTA’s reporting requirements, the continued retention of their data serves no legitimate government purpose.

We were encouraged when FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki testified that the agency “intend[s] to resolve questions around the data that we have collected, and dispose of data that is no longer legally required.” Director Gacki further committed to finalizing the interim rule “in the upcoming year.” While we appreciate these intentions, Main Street businesses need certainty and a concrete timeline for when their information will be purged.

More than 90 members of Congress echoed these concerns in a September letter, stating unequivocally: “This data must be immediately destroyed to protect the privacy of small business owners.” We agree. The longer the Treasury Department delays, the greater the risk there will be misuse of this sensitive information.

Main Street businesses deserve certainty and to know their personal information will not be “warehoused” indefinitely awaiting a new Administration and a change in policy. The undersigned organizations urge you to act swiftly to protect American businesses by purging the CTA database and finalizing the BOI rule now.

Sincerely,

Agricultural Retailers Association

AICC, The Independent Packaging Association

Air Conditioning Contractors of America

Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of Minnesota

Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey (AASP/NJ)

American Building Materials Alliance

American Council of Engineering Companies

American Council of Independent Laboratories

American Foundry Society

American Lighting Association

American Mold Builders Association

American Pipeline Contractors Association

American Resort Development Association

American Subcontractors Association

American Supply Association

AmericanHort

Associated Builders and Contractors

Associated Equipment Distributors

Associated General Contractors of America

California Cattlemen’s Association

Center for a Free Economy

Coalition of Franchisee Associations

Construction Industry Round Table

Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance

Energy Marketers of America Fabricators and Manufacturers

Association Family Business Association of CA

Family Business Coalition

FCA International

Foodservice Equipment Distributors Association

Forest Resources Association

Hardwood Federation

Health & Fitness Association

Heating, Air-conditioning, & Refrigeration Distributors

International ICSC

Independent Bakers Association

Independent Electrical Contractors

Industrial Fasteners Institute

International Foodservice Distributors Association

International Franchise Association

International Housewares Association

International Sign Association

Job Creators Network

Main Street Employers Coalition

Metals Service Center Institute

National Association of Convenience Stores

National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED)

National Association of Home Builders

National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors

National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA)

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association

National Cotton Council

National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA)

National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (NEMRA)

National Energy & Fuels Institute (NEFI)

National Federation of Independent Business

National Funeral Directors Association

National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association

National Onion Association

National Ready Mixed Concrete Association

National Roofing Contractors Association

National RV Dealers Assoc (RVDA)

National Small Business Association

National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association

National Tooling and Machining Association

National Utility Contractors Association

National Wooden Pallet & Container Association

NATSO, Representing America’s Travel Centers and Truck Stops

Non-Ferrous Founders’ Society

North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM)

North American Die Casting Association

North American Equipment Dealers Association

Oregon Cattlemen’s Association

Performance Racing Industry (PRI)

Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI)

Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors – National Association

Power & Communication Contractors Association

Precision Machined Products Association

Precision Metalforming Association

PRINTING United Alliance

Private Investor Coalition

Professional Beauty Association

S Corporation Association

Service Station Dealers of America and Allied Trades

SIGMA: America’s Leading Fuel Marketers

Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Small Business Legislative Council (SBLC)

Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS)

Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association

Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA)

Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance

Textile Care Allied Trades Association

The Association for Hose and Accessories Distribution

The Massachusetts Auto Body Assoc (MABA)

Tile Roofing Industry Alliance

Tire Industry Association

USA Rice

Water and Sewer Distributors of America (WASDA)

Wisconsin Grocers Association

Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation

Wyoming Stock Growers Association