Put this in the “who thought this was a good idea in the first place?” file.
By a vote of 87-12, the U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to repeal the idiotic health care reform provision that would have required businesses to file a 1099 form with the IRS any time they spend more than $600 a year with another business, sending it to President Obama to sign.
Granted it has a lot of competition, but this has got to be one of the dumbest things included in Obamacare. As the ZimmComm bookkeeper (among my many hats), I can tell you that this would have been a nightmare for me. I try to keep our taxes as simple as possible, which is why we have freelancers instead of employees, and 1099s are already a pain. You have to buy special forms that come in packs of 25 for dot matrix printers, which hardly anyone uses anymore, but only packs of 50 for regular printers – when I only need about 10. If I had to send out a 1099 for every piece of equipment over $600 that Chuck buys …. let’s just say that the 50 might not be enough! We’d probably have to file one just for his morning trips to Coffee Zone – I’m sure he spends at least $600 a year there!
Anyway, just about everyone (except maybe the 12 senators who voted against it) is cheering the repeal of this stupid provision, including agriculture. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Vice President of Government Affairs Colin Woodall called it “an enormous victory for U.S. farmers, ranchers and small businesses …. Commonsense scored a victory today.” That in itself is a miracle for Congress!
American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman says the repeal is great news for America’s farm and ranch families. “This was a costly, burdensome and unnecessary tax compliance requirement that was counterproductive to job creation and economic growth,” Stallman said. “Farmers, ranchers and small businesses are overloaded with paperwork, and we are pleased that our leaders in Washington took steps to provide relief. Farm Bureau commends the Senate for passing H.R. 4, and we urge President Obama to sign it.”
Obama apparently supports the repeal and is expected to sign. The unanswered question is, as I said at the top, who thought this was a good idea in the first place? And who are those 12 senators who voted against it?
POST UPDATE – Got the answer to my second question anyway. Akaka (D-HI) Durbin (D-IL) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Reid (D-NV) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY). No real surprises there, I guess.