Advertise on NYTimes.com Many Push for Repeal of Tax Provision in Health Law

[Francesca9]

Source: New York Times

Many Democrats have joined Republicans in pushing for the repeal of a tax provision in the new health care law that imposes a huge information-reporting burden on small businesses.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/health/policy/12health.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

[Francesca9]

1. Sorry about my paste error in the title

[bluestateguy]

2. If they can find a way to offset the lost revenue then I am OK with this

We always said, after all, that we would fix the bill later.

[customerserviceguy]

6. This provision

assumes that $17 billion dollars will be raised because small businesses haven't been reporting purchases of goods or merchandise, so that the recipients of the income have been cheating on taxes. Why not have a whitelist of suppliers that you wouldn't have to keep track of, I don't think Staples is skimming off the top for copier paper purchases?

You want to buy a used photocopier from your cousin Ernie? Fine, then report what you pay him, but don't make a burden for the small businesses that simply deal with legitimate suppliers every day.

[Francesca9]

9. I don't remember that part

I want it to work now.

[DoctorK]

lost revenue to the govt. isn't the only consideration

Something on the order of 6.6 billion hours are spent complying with the current tax code each year. All of this 'work' doesn't create any wealth - no cars, no houses, nothing is made from it.

Now how many more hours will go into making every business in the country track and file these forms for every entity they do more than $600 worth of business with?

I'm concerned about a massive waste of effort to collect a relatively insignificant amount of revenue (1.7 billion dollars a year over 10 years?).

"Ms. Olson, the independent taxpayer advocate (works for IRS), said the new reporting requirement would apply to over 38 million businesses, including 26 million sole proprietorships and 2 million farms."

[Javaman]

12. When is later? nt

[Gman]

3. Any reporting provision, no matter how minimal, will be decried as so onerous

that it will put small businesses of of business. It doesn't matter what the degree. That's irrelevant.

[customerserviceguy]

7. What if you had to report

how much you paid every grocery store for food, even what you bought at a roadside farm stand? Being as most people don't even balance a checkbook properly, it would be a large burden.

Everything business does that is not directly related to the prime money-making activity of the business is an extra expense. Why burden them with reporting of payments to suppliers that are major firms that are routinely audited?

[The Green Manalishi]

10. .Reductio ad absurdum, fail

Following your critique then no one should ever complain about any inane reporting requirement or intrusive bit of paperwork, because doing anything about people complaining about even the most ridiculous amounts of paperwork leads directly down a slippery slope to complete anarchy and no restrictions on businesses at all, why, if we can't make Mary's housekeeping service report every roll of TP they buy at Costco the logical result is nuclear waste being dumped on the local playground.

[The Northerner]

4. K&R

[customerserviceguy]

5. I'm sure there are all kinds of little surprises in that bill

Nobody took the time to read it.

[Francesca9]

8. It is unethical to vote on a bill that you never read.

[customerserviceguy]

11. Yeah, ethics don't seem to matter to congresscritters, do they?

It's physically impossible to read a multi-thousand page bill hours before you vote on it.