President Donald Trump celebrated a major regulatory rollback Sunday as the Treasury Department announced it is suspending enforcement of the Biden-era Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirement for U.S. citizens and domestic companies, calling it an “outrageous and invasive” burden on small businesses.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed Trump’s triumph, labeling the move “a victory for common sense” and a cornerstone of the administration’s push to slash red tape and boost American prosperity.
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“Exciting news!” Trump declared in a statement. “The Treasury Department has announced that they are suspending all enforcement of the outrageous and invasive Beneficial Ownership Information reporting requirement for U.S. Citizens. This Biden rule has been an absolute disaster for Small Businesses Nationwide … The economic menace of BOI reporting will soon be no more.” The Treasury confirmed it will halt penalties under the Corporate Transparency Act’s existing deadlines and extend that relief post-rule change, while drafting an emergency regulation to formally nix the requirement for American firms.
Introduced in 2021 under Biden, the BOI rule—mandating companies to report ownership details to combat money laundering—drew fire from small business owners and GOP lawmakers for its complexity and privacy intrusions. Critics, including Trump, slammed it as a compliance nightmare, with fines looming over missed deadlines.
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Treasury’s shift scraps enforcement for U.S. citizens and domestic entities entirely, pivoting the rule’s focus to foreign companies only. “Treasury takes this step in the interest of supporting hard-working American taxpayers and small businesses,” the department said, aiming to “appropriately tailor” the rule.
Bessent tied the rollback to Trump’s deregulatory zeal. “Today’s action is part of President Trump’s bold agenda to unleash American prosperity by reining in burdensome regulations, in particular for small businesses that are the backbone of the American economy,” he said.
The move follows Trump’s February executive orders tweaking border tariffs and aligns with his broader economic pledge to slash between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion in federal spending—backed by a House GOP budget bill greenlighting $4.5 trillion in deficit hikes.
The Treasury’s forthcoming rulemaking—narrowing BOI to foreign firms—aims to balance security with relief. Trump’s team counts it a win, with Bessent finalizing the emergency rule to bury Biden’s “economic menace” for good. Small businesses, Trump insists, just got their lifeline back.
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