Peterson Co-Sponsors Bill To Reduce Red Tape For Business

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Congressman Peterson announced his support and co-sponsorship for H.R. 5141, the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act. This will eliminate Section 9006 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which puts unnecessarily burdensome rules upon small businesses.

“I have always worked to reduce red tape and foolish regulations for small businesses and this bill will do just that,” said Peterson. “This provision should not have been included in the health care reform bill and it was one of the reasons I voted against it.”

Section 9006 would require all businesses to file a separate IRS-1099 reporting form for every single business-to-business transaction that totals more than $600 in a given year. Requiring small businesses to fill out more paperwork will not improve health care delivery. In addition, larger businesses may hesitate before contracting with smaller businesses because of the increased paperwork.

“I voted for eliminating the IRS-1099 reporting provision of the health care reform bill when it was considered by the House [as part of H.R. 5982, the Small Business Tax Relief Act] in July”, said Peterson, “but unfortunately the bill itself didn’t pass. I hope we can pass this stand-alone bill before the end of this session.”

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