NFA Tax Cut to $0 Sparks Unprecedented Wave of Suppressor and SBR Filings

With the National Firearms Act (NFA) tax on short-barreled rifles (SBRs) and suppressors officially reduced to $0 as of January 1, 2026, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was immediately overwhelmed by a tidal wave of submissions. The tax change—one of the final outcomes of July 2025’s One Big Beautiful Bill—took effect on New Year’s Day after months of anticipation. Although the legislation initially included full deregulation language from both the Hearing Protection Act and the SHORT Act, Congress ultimately settled on eliminating the $200 transfer and making tax while leaving the NFA framework otherwise intact.

Even with January 1 falling on a federal holiday, gun owners and FFLs wasted no time. Roughly 150,000 eForms submissions were uploaded in a single day—compared to the ATF’s typical daily processing volume of around 2,500. The sudden surge came amid widespread system slowdowns and outages. Many dealers had spent months stockpiling factory SBRs and suppressors under layaway programs, waiting for the tax to drop before submitting Form 4 transfer requests. At the same time, individual gun owners rushed to file “free” Form 1 applications to manufacture new NFA items without paying the long-standing tax.

Despite repeated industry requests, the federal government declined to grant forbearance during the seven-month window between the bill’s signing and the tax’s effective date. To prepare for the transition, the ATF took the eForms system offline during the final week of 2025—yet significant technical issues still surfaced once the floodgates opened. While many users reported delays and submission errors, there were also anecdotal reports of approvals coming back in as little as 24 hours, an almost unheard-of turnaround under the traditional NFA process.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation alerted industry partners that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was experiencing “intermittent IT system glitches and delays,” but emphasized that the agency was actively working to resolve the issues and communicating directly with affected dealers. The unprecedented volume underscored what the firearms industry has argued for years: the NFA is no longer aligned with modern reality or public demand.

“The sheer numbers speak for themselves when it comes to America’s appetite to shoot suppressed,” said Mark Oliva, NSSF’s Director of Public Affairs. “That magnitude is stunning—and exactly what we predicted. When the NFA tax was reduced to zero, hundreds of thousands of Americans spoke with their wallets and purchased suppressors.” Oliva added that Congress should move quickly to make the tax reduction permanent by passing the Hearing Protection Act, noting that suppressors are fundamentally safety devices—not tools of crime.

With hundreds of thousands of new suppressors and short-barreled firearms expected to be manufactured and transferred throughout 2026, pressure is mounting for broader reform. Republicans still hold narrow control of Congress during an election year, creating what many in the industry see as a rare opportunity to finally roll back—or repeal—significant portions of the NFA altogether. That window may not stay open for long.

Democrats have already signaled that, should they regain control of the federal government, they intend to reinstate the NFA tax—and dramatically increase it from the historic $200 to figures reportedly as high as $4,700 per item. For now, however, the explosion in demand has made one thing unmistakably clear: when unnecessary barriers are removed, Americans overwhelmingly choose freedom, safety, and common sense over decades-old gun control relics.

At 2 If By Sea Tactical, we’ll continue tracking what could be the most consequential shift in federal firearms policy in generations.

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