The Senate today has an opportunity to repeal one of the twenty-five new taxes in Obamacare. Later tonight, the Senate votes on amendments to a food safety bill, two of which repeal the "1099-MISC" information reporting tax hike found in Obamacare. The Baucus amendment simply repeals the new tax. The Johanns amendment repeals the new tax and cuts spending elsewhere in the budget. ATR is supportive of either approach, but recognizes the Johanns amendment as the superior one since it both cuts spending and cuts taxes.
The Obamacare tax in question expands the information reporting requirements businesses must comply with under tax law. Current rules require a business to furnish a "1099-MISC" information reporting form to any person or unincorporated firm with whom they do at least $600 in business. The Obamacare 1099 tax expands this in 2011 and onward to include any firm with whom they do this level of business. That means that every small business in America must send forms to every airline, every restaurant, every gas station, etc. that gets at least $600 of their business. Even the IRS says they would be overwhelmed with the reporting requirements and the millions of new 1099-MISC forms they would generate.
Repealing this new tax and regulation burden on America's small and large employers is one small step toward repealing and replacing the monstrosity of Obamacare itself.