"Unintended Consequences: How Small Business Owners in Colorado Could Be Caught by New Money Laundering Law"

A new federal law, the Corporate Transparency Act, requires almost every business entity in Colorado to register with the Treasury Department's Federal Crimes Enforcement Network or face steep penalties, in an effort to catch money launderers. This law applies to LLCs, DBAs, and corporations of any size, and individuals with at least a 25% ownership in a company or who manage a company must file a Beneficial Ownership Information report or face fines and potential prison time. Small business owners, including independent artists, may be caught off guard, but they have until the end of the year to comply if their businesses were established before Jan. 1, and new businesses have 90 days. The database is non-public and only accessible by law enforcement, and while the penalties for noncompliance are steep, they are specifically for willful failure to file.