HVAC and plumbing trade groups are pressing Congress to permanently eliminate a small-business reporting requirement that was required, then suspended after legal disputes.
Among the groups backing that push are ACCA, HARDI, and PHCC, which joined dozens of trade associations in a letter sent to Congress before the Fourth of July holiday. The letter asks congressional leaders to make sure the reporting requirement does not return.
The requirement stems from the Corporate Transparency Act, which took effect in 2024. Under that law, businesses with fewer than 20 full-time employees or less than $5 million in annual revenue were required to file beneficial ownership reports with the Treasury Department by Jan. 1, 2025. Those filings included personal information for owners holding more than a 25 percent stake.
Following a series of legal back-and-forths, the Treasury in March 2025 exempted all businesses from the requirement. The original article said the rule would have affected roughly 32 million businesses nationwide, including many contractors.
In the letter, the groups said the Treasury action was "the largest deregulatory action of 2025, saving small businesses from over $128 billion of regulatory costs and compliance burdens", the letter states.
HARDI also warned that the issue could resurface. "Without a legislative fix", HARDI added in a blog post, "future administrations could revive" the mandate.
The trade groups said Congress could "lock in" those savings either by repealing the requirement entirely or by writing the Treasury’s March 2025 exemption into law. The original article said bills to repeal the law in the House and Senate currently have 194 and 34 cosponsors, respectively.
It remains unclear whether the trade groups have received a response. For now, the CTA remains repealed, but not yet fully eliminated.
