Monday, September 13, 2010

Just ♥ Paperwork? Obama's Got A Brand New Law For You!

Try this scenario on for size:

You and your spouse run a little Mom-and-Pop business, which is on the edge of extinction because many of your former customers are unemployed workers or the businesses that laid off those workers. It's Monday, September 13, and you are somewhat frantically calculating your quarterly federal taxes, due September 15, when you realize you've just run out of printer ink. You rush down to the local Big Box and buy a couple of boxes of toner and a few other office supplies--enough to get you through today's hassle and some to keep on hand as backup--fingers crossed you have enough cash on hand to pay those taxes.

Spend more than $600 in one year in that store on all the business-related items you purchase there and--Presto, National Work Serf, you've got a brand-new unpaid forced-labor job: Now you must file what is known as a 1099 tax form both to the IRS and to the vendor.
 
Got that? You, the customer, have to keep track of how much money you spent at that particular Big Box between January 1 and December 31, and, if you discover that you've spent more than $600, you've got to file a special tax form both to the Big Box and to the IRS.

It's all about a new regulation buried in the ObamaCare law, that little-ol' law that was so important to the nation Obama that the Democrats in Congress decided to skip their Christmas Eve dinner at home just to pass it.

Section 9006, to be specific.

Look around your local small businesses: how many different 1099s will have to be filled out by your favorite deli, diner, or bakery, your plumber, carpenter, computer repair guy, jeweler, used book dealer, local liquor store owner, corner auto-parts retailer, propane delivery company, independent moving van owner, etc., etc., etc. Imagine how many different companies each one does business with to keep that little operation going. It adds up to quite a few.

Oh, and by the way, the new law also applies to charities. I pity the already overworked volunteers at the local food bank and abused women shelter.

That's not all. Local and state governments will have to file the forms too. Meaning more taxes for everyone to pay for more government-employed bookkeepers and clerks.

One alternative does exist. If Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns gets his way, Section 9006 of the ObamaCare law will be repealed by an amendment attached to Obama's latest "let's all pretend to save any small businesses that we haven't yet destroyed, just before the November election" bill, which is planned to be the Senate's first order of business in the new session of Congress.

Retiring Republican Senator George Voinovich of Ohio is putting his weight behind the amendment. His version of Let's Make a Deal goes like this: He will join the Dems and cast his vote as the crucial 60th vote in favor of Obama's small business bill if the Senate "considers" Senator Johann's amendment to repeal the new paperwork nightmare.

With the only Americans behind this law being those who just love to do paperwork (nobody I know), you might expect Democrats seeking re-election to get behind the plan to get rid of Section 9006. But Senator Johanns is expecting President Obama to "try to get Democrats to walk the plank again on this provision and vote against it. What that means is they would have to go home and say well, I voted that you will have to do more paperwork instead of creating jobs."

Work Serfs, you know who to call.
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3 comments:

  1. More statist nightmare stuff...

    I still find it curious that anyone could ever believe that a law that long would not hold "unexpected," "little noticed," nor overlooked consequences. Then again, most Americans didn't believe that so...

    This nonsense in the law is still more crud that'll need to be cleaned up later-- a cleaning that will most likely be half-hearted and sloppy. Man, I'm in a pessimistic mood today. Sorry.

    By the way QR, the first link in your post didn't work when I clicked on it.

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  2. Yukio-

    In the best of scenarios the clean-up will be only partly effective. I call that realism, not pessimism, though it certainly is unpleasant enough.

    Off to buy some office supplies at the local Big Box! ;)

    (Fixed the link, thanks for the tip.)

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  3. If the Obama plan is to rid the country of the small independent family business............it's working.

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