It seems that response to my post about §9006 of the heath care bill has been a bit more heated than I expected. Both sides of the political spectrum are displaying strong opposition to the updated 1099 filing requirements.
Cross-posted at D. J. Marcus's Tax Blog
Both here, on Kos, where I posted the story myself, and on FreeRepublic.com, where someone else picked up my post, small business owners and employees spoke out against the modifications to the Internal Revenue Code that §9006 makes. Yes, Kossacks and Freepers agree on something.
To clarify my position, the two positive aspects to which I referred in the original post were simply that. From the perspective of someone who deals, on a daily basis, with people who have put themselves in financial peril because they have kept poor books or claimed inappropriate business deductions, forcing better record keeping is indeed a silver lining to the storm cloud that this provision appears to be.
However, the fact remains that this will create a burden on small and large business alike. Congressional aides have, anonymously, suggested that the section is intended simply to improve "tax compliance without raising taxes on small businesses." It will certainly have that effect. It will also have the side-effect of increasing required paperwork for all businesses that purchase from or sell to other companies.