Enzi aims to eliminate the 1099 health care provision
November 29, 2010
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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., continued his efforts today to repeal a provision in the health care reform law that burdens small businesses with new taxes and stacks of paperwork.
Enzi is a cosponsor of an amendment, introduced by Senator Mike Johanns, R-Neb., which aims to eliminate the harmful provision. The current provision in the health care reform law would force 40 million businesses to submit a separate 1099 form to the IRS for every business-to-business transaction that totals more than $600 in a year.
“Imagine you’re a freelance writer and you buy a new laptop. Now, you have to send a 1099 form to Apple and the IRS or be labeled a tax cheat. You’ll also need Apple’s Taxpayer Identification number, so don’t forget to ask the salesman for that,” Enzi said today on the Senate floor. “This new reporting requirement hits small businesses hardest. Government mandates, like the new 1099 requirement, have a real cost, and it is small businesses who end up having to pay them.”
Enzi first sounded the alarm on the detrimental side effects of this provision in July during a Senate Finance Committee hearing and flagged the provision as one of many that needs to be repealed to fix the damage of the health care reform law. Republicans and Democrats have joined in support of repealing Section 9006 and even the President has commented that the provision needs immediate adjustment. Senator Max Baucus, D-Mont., introduced his own amendment to repeal the provision but, unlike the Johanns amendment, it would not be fully paid-for.
“We can make a statement right now to America’s small businesses that we want you creating more jobs, hiring new employees and growing your business – not worrying about what Washington will require of you next,” Enzi said. “Let’s tell our small business men and women that we stand behind them, not on top of their backs, and let’s repeal this new tax paperwork burden in a fiscally responsible way.”
The Senate is expected to vote later today on both the Johanns and Baucus amendments. Sixty-seven votes are needed to secure passage. If either amendment is successful, they will be added to a food safety bill, which the Senate and House must also pass in order for the IRS provision to be removed from the new health care law.
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