Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-1) today voted to repeal a costly mandate for small businesses created in the health care overhaul law last year. H.R. 4, the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives today by a vote of 314-112. H.R. 4 was one of the first pieces of legislation Wittman signed onto in the 112^th Congress.

“Today I was proud to cast my vote for a repeal of the 1099 mandate, which would burden small businesses here in Virginia and across the country,” Wittman said. “Small businesses are the job creators, the backbone of our economy, and we need to encourage their innovation, not stifle them with unnecessary, expensive burdens such as this new mandate. The capital of small businesses is better spent on the growth of their businesses and the salaries of their employees. This is a small yet significant victory in our efforts to get government out of the way, encourage our economy’s growth and get people back to work.”

Specifically, H.R. 4 proposes a repeal of the new IRS Form 1099 information reporting requirements that were imposed on small businesses under the new health overhaul law, which expanded tax information reporting requirements to require businesses to issue a Form 1099 for any payments to corporations (rather than just to individuals) and for any payments for property (rather than just for services or investment income) that exceed $600 per year per payee. The legislation also repeals an additional IRS Form 1099 information reporting requirement on owners of rental real estate, and will reduce waste, fraud and abuse by recapturing improper overpayments of health insurance exchange subsidies to individuals established under the health care overhaul. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, H.R. 4 would reduce the deficit by $166 million in the next 10 years.

Without a repeal, this mandate will have a “direct negative impact on small businesses”, according to the National Federation of Independent Business.

Wittman voted to oppose this mandate in its inception during the health care debate in the 111^th Congress, as a provision of the health overhaul, H.R. 3590. Read more about Congressman Wittman’s principles on health care reform, on his website, http://wittman.house.gov.

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