Repeal of 1099 Mandate Sent to President

Congress has voted to repeal a controversial Form 1099 reporting mandate that’s part of the federal healthcare reform law.

This week, by a vote of 87-12, the Senate passed HR 4, a bill that already passed the House. It repeals the paperwork mandate requiring all businesses as of 2012 to report all non-credit card purchases totaling $600 or more with any vendor in a tax year to the IRS.

The 1099 reporting mandate was a device designed to raise about $17 billion in revenues to pay for the federal healthcare reform.

It’s estimated that the mandate would affect 40 million businesses, of which 26 million are sole proprietorships. The requirement is most threatening to small businesses because they lack the resources to track and manage this type of reporting.

The bill was sent to President Obama for his signature. In a statement, the White House said it was “pleased Congress has acted to correct a flaw that placed an unnecessary bookkeeping burden on small businesses.”