WASHINGTON: The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) has launched a petition and action center devoted to repealing a nightmarish paperwork mandate that vastly expands 1099-Misc reporting. SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan said small business owners are outraged by the provision, and want to know everything they can do stop it from taking effect in 2012. The group has launched www.stop1099.org in response.

"This expanded 1099 reporting mandate has really gotten under the skin of small business owners, and rightly so," said Kerrigan. "The burden of the new mandate will be tedious, time-consuming, and costly. Business owners across the country are furious that Congress slid the measure in a massive health care bill without understanding its deep impact," she added.

A provision (Section 9006) in the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" signed by President Barack Obama in March mandates that all businesses issue a 1099 form for all vendor payments totaling $600 or more on an annual basis. This new mandate vastly expands current requirements, and is scheduled to begin in 2012. According to Kerrigan, the provision was included in the health care bill as a revenue raiser ($17 billion), but there has been no analysis completed to demonstrate how effective the measure will be at closing the "tax gap."

"I really don't know if Congress thought about the unintended consequences of the mandate, whether the IRS has the capacity to deal with hundreds of millions of new forms from 30 million businesses, the cost impact it will have on small business owners, and the economy-wide effect of this extensive paperwork burden," said Kerrigan.

An action center – www.stop1099.org -- has been developed by SBE Council. The center shows business owners what they can do to build momentum for repeal. Stop 1099 gives background on the issue; provides details of legislation offered in the House and Senate to repeal the mandate, and how business owners can help move these bills; points to the IRS site where business owners can comment on implementation of the new mandate; and where they can address their concerns to President Obama. Business owners can also sign "The Petition to Repeal Section 9006," and SBE Council hopes to collect one-half million signatures by the time Congress returns from its long summer recess in September.

"We have the power to repeal this misguided mandate, but small business owners must become active and make their voice heard," Kerrigan said.

SBE Council is a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to protecting small business and promoting entrepreneurship. For more information, please visit: www.sbecouncil.org.

SOURCE Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council