03.23.11

Hoeven: Measure to Eliminate 1099 Paperwork Mandate About to Become Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator John Hoeven today said he believes a measure he is cosponsoring in the U.S. Senate to eliminate the 1099 reporting mandate for small businesses in the federal health care act is about to become law. 

Similar bills eliminating this provision have already passed both houses of Congress. Hoeven cosponsored the Senate bill, the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act, and is now cosponsoring an amendment to the Senate’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer bill that incorporates the House measure. 

Section 9006 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act mandates that every business, charity, and local and state government entity submit 1099 forms for business transactions totaling $600 or more in a given year. This mandate adds routine business expenses like phone, office products, and shipping costs, and increases businesses’ reporting requirements by as much as 2,000 percent. 

Under the new health care law, the 1099 form would also be used to track expenditures for services and goods. It would require that 1099s be issued not just to individuals but also to corporations and businesses. 

“America’s 17 million small businesses are the backbone of the American economy,” Hoeven said. “The sooner we can reduce their regulatory burden and provide the certainty they need to hire and grow, the sooner they can start to create jobs and get our economy moving again.”

Earlier, Hoeven voted for repeal of the federal health care law. He believes we need to replace the current law with health care reform that empowers people and includes features that reduce costs, like tort reform, increased competition among health insurers, and Medicare reform that rewards reduced costs and good outcomes.