DES MOINES — U.S. Representative Zach Nunn, a Republican from Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, Thursday, introduced a bipartisan bill to reduce excessive paperwork for small businesses. The Protect Small Business from Excessive Paperwork Act, which is co-led by U.S. Representatives Yadira Caraveo (CO-08), French Hill (AR-02), and Sharice Davids (KS-03), will make it easier for Main Street businesses to comply with federal law and reporting requirements.

“Iowa’s economy is driven by small businesses – more than half of Iowans are employed by Main Street,” said Rep. Nunn. “Bureaucrats in D.C. sit in their ivory towers, demanding businesses comply with onerous red tape, without considering the burden it puts on businesses. We must do everything we can to roll back unnecessary regulations and simplify requirements for job creators while still following the law.”

In 2020, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act to establish new beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements for businesses to root out nefarious shell companies operated by foreign adversaries. However, during implementation, the U.S. Department of Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) failed to notify small businesses of the new reporting requirements. According to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), 80% of NFIB members had never heard of the new reporting requirements.Rep. Nunn hosted FinCEN Director Gacki in Des Moines on May 31, 2024 to host a small business roundtable to discuss the new BOI requirements. During the event, Director Gacki reported that only 2 million out of approximately 32.6 million small businesses had filed their reports.

Despite the lack of filings under the new requirements, FinCEN has refused to extend the deadline, leaving millions of small business owners at risk of a $591 daily fine and up to two years in jail. According to the National Small Business Association, the average small business owner will spend nearly $8,000 to comply with these new reporting requirements.

The bipartisan Protect Small Business from Excessive Paperwork Act extends the filing deadline until December 31, 2025 for small businesses while the Treasury Department educates businesses on the new reporting requirements and ensures small businesses are not overburdened with unclear and unnecessarily complicated new regulations.

Text of the bill can be found here.