WASHINGTON - January 26, 2011 - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation to repeal a burdensome tax reporting requirement on small businesses and farms enacted as part of the health care overhaul law last year.
"I had constituent meetings in 24 Iowa counties last week and heard employers say they need relief from costly mandates and regulations that undo any benefit they're supposed to get from the federal government, especially in rural America," Grassley said. "The tax reporting requirement included in the health care law will cause a lot of hardship for small businesses and farmers when they need to focus on job creation instead."
Grassley signed onto legislation from Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) to repeal the tax reporting paperwork mandate, known as 1099 after the form taxpayers have to submit. The Small Business Paperwork Elimination Act was introduced on the first day to introduce legislation in the new Congress. Of the 55 senators co-sponsoring the bill, 14 are Democrats in indication of strong bipartisan support. The President also highlighted the need to repeal what he called this "flaw" in the health care bill in his state of the union address, a significant indication of support for repeal. An identical measure introduced last year received 61 Senate votes.
The Small Business Paperwork Elimination Act would repeal the health care law's Section 9006, which expands the requirement to submit 1099 tax filing forms for business expenses to include all transactions that total $600 or more per vendor per year. The provision would impact businesses, family farms, churches, charities and local governments. Numerous groups including the Iowa Farm Bureau and the National Federation of Independent Business, representing small businesses, are urging repeal.
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