I'm a skeptic. I see something outrageous online and I question it. I don't jump on the bandwagon until I've pulled my Reagan act; I trust but verify. So, when I read about this on Coyote Blog, I went searching. It seemed way too weird for someone trying to bolster a sick economy. It also seemed totally unrelated to healthcare.
That only illustrates what I know about the current administration.
The veritable backbone of our economy is small business. The last thing a small business needs is more bureaucratic paperwork requirements. When a business incurs an expense for goods or services they keep a receipt because they are going to find it worthwhile to deduct that expense from their profit and thereby reduce their income tax liability. Keeping the receipts is burdensome, but we've grown accustomed to it.
Now we've got this:
Healthcare Bill Removes 1099 Business Exclusions for 2012
I've long been familiar with 1099s. They are the income reporting paperwork for those of us who operate as independent contractors rather than W-2 wage earners. We get income reported for our annual tax bleeding on forms 1099. There are 1099s for my book royalties, for my writing gigs, or my retirement pay, for my Social Security checks, for interest and dividends from my savings. There is a copy to the tax Gestapo so they know if I'm reporting my taxable income honestly.
But, what about if I buy a new computer for my self-employment writing? I don't have to complete a 1099 for that. It is a purchase not a payment of wages to someone. What if I hire a contractor to paint my office? It is a not wages paid to an employee but a maintenance cost for my facility.
And, what does it have to do with healthcare? Where does that linkage come?
I'm small potatoes when it comes to a business. But what about the mom and pop small town store? Will they have to find enough time to generate hundreds of 1099s each month for their business purchases? Will this hurt the economy or help it recover.
The answer doesn't seem too difficult to discern.
Government is not the solution. It remains the problem and the problem is getting much worse.
2 comments:
One of the REAL problems is that too many of the "Voters" Don't have a clue what it takes to start, run and maintain a business. They are happy to be employees, and not employers....and are also mostly happy it remain ignorant about what really keeps them gainfully employed and what it takes to maintain. Our Schools no longer teach this to our kids...instead they get "Jane has two mommies"
So many companies are going to miss me come 2011!
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