Alliance Commends Passage of Bill Repealing Burdensome 1099 Paperwork Requirement
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 3, 2011 — The Alliance for Affordable Services today commended the U.S. House of Representatives, and the strong leadership of Rep. Dan Lungren, R- Calif., for passage of H.R. 4, a bill repealing a health care reform law provision that requires employers to furnish 1099 statements when they do more than $600 in business with a corporate vendor.
“On behalf of small-business owners and the self-employed across our nation, I want to thank Congressman Lungren for his leadership on this important legislation,” said Dr. Paul Pevsner, Alliance President. “The passage of H.R. 4 is a critical victory for members of the Alliance for Affordable Services, as the burdensome reporting requirements would have had an adverse impact on the ability of small businesses and the self-employed to hire, create revenue, and purchase equipment. In the desire for economic recovery, these businesses must spend their resources efficiently, rather than spending them on burdensome paperwork mandates.”
The legislation provides relief to millions of small-business owners who would otherwise face an enormous tax reporting burden under the recently enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as the health care bill.
Rep. Dan Lungren, R- Calif., sponsor of H.R. 4, added, “I wish to acknowledge that we would not have reached this point in the process without the grassroots support of small businesses across the country who rose up in arms over the attempted imposition of the 1099 mandate. The hard work of groups like the Alliance for Affordable Services and its members was indispensable to our success.”
For nearly a year, the Alliance and its members have advocated for passage of this legislation aimed at protecting small businesses across the United States. Just last month, the Alliance joined a coalition of more than 160 associations in signing a letter that urged Congress to take immediate action to repeal the expensive and burdensome new tax rule that would require small businesses to cope with an avalanche of paperwork.
According to an SBA study, the cost of complying with the tax code is 66 percent higher for a small business as compared to a large business. In a June 2010 survey, Alliance members indicated that complying with this new reporting requirement would dramatically increase the time and money spent on issuing and tracking Form 1099s.
Additional Resources
- June 2010 | Alliance Form 1099 Survey
- Alliance Urges Congress to Repeal Burdensome 1099 Paperwork Requirement
- House passes 1099 repeal bill — article from Politico.com
Where Do We Go From Here?
While the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of H.R. 4 is significant, work still needs to be done to repeal expansion of the 1099 reporting requirement. The next step in the legislative process is for the U.S. Senate to draft legislation with language similar to H.R. 4. If the language is identical, then the bill will be sent to President Obama for signature and implementation. If the language differs, then the bills must first be reconciled in a conference committee.
In his 2011 State of the Union address, the president indicated that he would sign a bill to repeal the expansion, which was estimated to generate up to $19 billion dollars in revenue. Ironically, Congress passed similar versions of a 1099 repeal bill, but the two versions disagree on how to pay for the bill.