WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) today voted in favor of H.R. 4, the House-passed bill to repeal the costly and unprecedented 1099 tax reporting mandate in the new health care law. The Senate passed the measure by a vote of 87 to 12, and H.R. 4 will now be sent to President Obama’s desk. When the president signs the bill into law, it will mark the first significant change to the health care law – a change supported by both sides of the aisle.

“Today’s repeal of the 1099 requirement is good news for small businesses and agriculture producers, who would bear the largest burden under this onerous provision,” Sen. Moran said. “The new requirement would have increased 1099 filings by 2000 percent and buried businesses in paperwork, substantially increasing the cost of doing business in an already challenging economic environment.

“This is the first of hopefully many commonsense reforms to the damaging health care law,” Sen. Moran continued. “I will continue to work to ensure the law is replaced with provisions that improve our current health care system, reduce costs, and keep personal health care decisions between patients and their doctors.”

Sen. Moran voted in favor of a Senate-originated amendment to repeal the 1099 provision in February. He also joined U.S. Senator Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) in sponsoring two pieces of legislation to repeal the provision.

According to the National Taxpayer Advocate, a division of the IRS, the 1099 provision of the health care law would impact as many as 40 million American businesses. Of that number, 26 million businesses are sole proprietorships, not counting farms. The Small Business Association estimates that small businesses have created more than 64 percent of new jobs nationally over the past 15 years. At a time when Washington is urging businesses to hire workers, the new 1099 requirement is a government-imposed obstacle to economic growth and job creation.

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