After Congress acted last week to repeal the costly
1099 reporting requirement included in last year’s health care law, President Obama signed the legislation into law on April 14. Through this bipartisan agreement, small business owners can continue to focus on economic growth instead of burdensome paperwork.
Under the terms of the repeal, businesses will no longer
be required to issue 1099 forms to all vendors from whom
they buy more than $600 worth of goods or services in
any year, beginning in 2012. The requirement was
intended to prompt vendors receiving 1099 forms to pay
taxes on the income.
In a letter sent to the White House asking President
Obama to sign the bill into law, SEMA President and CEO
Chris Kersting said, “Small businesses remain the most
important economic engine driving America’s expanded
recovery. Eliminating the 1099 reporting burden will
allow our companies to focus on producing tangible goods
and services rather than wasteful paperwork.”
After signing the bill into law, President Obama said,
“I was pleased to take another step to relieve
unnecessary burdens on small businesses by signing H.R.
4 into law. Small business owners are the engine of our
economy and because Democrats and Republicans worked
together, we can ensure they spend their time and
resources creating jobs and growing their business, not
filling out more paperwork.”
SEMA contended that the 1099 requirement would fail to
generate much under-reported income but would succeed in
punishing businesses that already comply with U.S. tax
law. SEMA was an active leader in the repeal effort,
working on its own and with a number of other small
business organizations.
SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association founded
in 1963, represents the $27.9 billion specialty
automotive industry of 6,461 member-companies. It is the
authoritative source for research, data, trends and
market growth information for the specialty auto parts
industry. The industry provides appearance, performance,
comfort, convenience and technology products for
passenger and recreational vehicles.
For more information, contact SEMA at 1575 S. Valley
Vista Dr., Diamond Bar, CA 91765, tel: 909/396-0289, or
visit www.sema.org.
