House Passes Paperwork Mandate Repeal

The U.S. House of Representatives passed 314 to 112 a bill that would repeal a tax information reporting mandate included in last year’s health care overhaul bill. AGC wrote a letter to all Representatives urging them to support the bill.  AGC designated the vote a “Key Vote” for purposes of its legislative scorecard on issues of importance to the construction industry. The new health care law expanded tax information reporting rules by requiring 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 bill, H.R. 4, the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, would also repeal the new Form 1099 filing requirement for taxpayers who rent real property.  The provision was included in the small business lending bill Congress enacted in September 2010. The Senate passed its own Form 1099 mandate repeal as an amendment to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill in January. The House and Senate must pass identical legislation before sending it to the President for his signature. For more information on the 1099 reporting requirement and to write your Senators and Representative, use the AGC Legislative Action Center by clicking here. For more information, contact Karen Lapsevic at 202-547-4733 or lapsevick@agc.org.