The U.S. Treasury Department has pushed back the deadline for small businesses to comply with the Corporate Transparency Act to Jan. 13, as opposing lawyers renewed their efforts to suspend the law indefinitely.

The department on Monday reset the deadline from Jan. 1 in recognition that a nationwide preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the law had been in effect for 20 days in December.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction Monday. The Center for Individual Rights filed a motion Tuesday requesting the full court hold a hearing to consider reinstating the injunction.

The panel’s decision will force businesses, which had thought the deadline was postponed indefinitely, to scramble over the holidays to understand and comply with the law, according to the motion.

Several other federal courts are reviewing the law. On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Steven Hazel asked the 11th Circuit Court, which held a hearing in September, to rule as far in advance of Jan. 13 as possible. 

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association issued a statement saying the Treasury Department should further extend the deadline. NCBA advised ranchers to consult with their attorney or tax adviser.

The act requires millions of farmers and ranchers to file complex paperwork with the federal government under the threat of fines and jail time, NCBA Executive Director of Government Affairs Kent Bacus said in a statement.

The law applies to an estimated 32.6 million entities that registered with states and have fewer than 20 employees or annual revenue of less than $5 million. The Treasury Department estimates the law will apply to 5 million new entities each year.

Entities must submit photos and personal information of owners and “important decision-makers” to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The information will be available to law and intelligence agencies, as well as foreign law agencies, judges and prosecutors.

Businesses that don’t report can be fined. Congress set the fine at $500 a day, but it’s been adjusted for inflation to $591, according a Treasury Department website.

U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant in East Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction Dec. 3, ruling the law likely exceeded Congress’ power to regulate commerce.

The 5th Circuit’s three-judge panel overturned Mazzant’s injunction, ruling that the “modest disclosure requirements” would combat financial crimes.

Neither Mazzant nor the 5th Circuit addressed claims the act violates civil liberties by forcing people not suspected of crimes to report personal information to financial crime investigators.

The holiday rush to uphold or delay the law was years in the making. Congress included the act in the 2021 defense budget. The first lawsuit against the act was filed in November 2022, more than two years before the first reporting deadline.

Federal judges have disagreed over the law. District Court judges in Oregon and Virginia upheld the law, while Mazzant in Texas and an Alabama judge ruled it was unconstitutional. Decisions are pending in other courts.

Attorneys general from 25 states filed a friend-of-the-court brief asking the 5th Circuit to uphold Mazzant’s ruling.