Senator John Thune

The U.S. Senate recently had a second opportunity to vote on a popular, bipartisan amendment that would have fully repealed the costly and burdensome 1099 tax reporting provision buried in the recently enacted health care law. This tax reporting mandate will force all businesses, charities, churches, and state and local governments to file a 1099 tax form with the IRS every time they purchase $600 or more in goods from other businesses throughout the year. It is predicted that as many as 40 million businesses across the country will be forced to comply with this burdensome and time consuming requirement.

I cosponsored an amendment offered by Senator Mike Johanns of Nebraska that would have repealed the 1099 paperwork requirement. The amendment was fully paid for using unspent and unobligated government funds to replace the expected revenue generated by the 1099 mandate. While the Johanns amendment received widespread bipartisan support, it did not meet the 67 vote requirement and ultimately failed by a vote of 61 to 35.

Members of both sides of the aisle in Congress, as well as President Obama, have expressed frustration with the 1099 mandate and have called for its full repeal. We all know that small businesses are the engines of job growth here in South Dakota. The federal government should not be forcing job-killing policies and regulations on our job creators, especially during a time of near 10 percent national unemployment.

While this onerous requirement does not go into effect until 2012, Congress should act quickly to remove the provision from law and provide our small businesses with more certainty and security. I will continue to be a vocal critic of this job-killing mandate and advocate for immediate repeal.