So you’re really fired up about those new 1099 reporting requirements for 2012, right? The ones that are going to cause all of those headaches for you and your small business?
You’ve bellyached about it on twitter. You’ve railed against it on a number of blogs. You’ve griped about it on Facebook. You’ve passed along chain emails complaining about how much effort it’s going to be to comply.
But, er, have you really done anything about it yet?
You only have a few weeks left to let the IRS know how you feel.
To recap, the new law extends the reporting requirement for forms 1099-MISC to corporations; previously, only individuals and partnerships (with certain limited exceptions) would be on the receiving end of those forms. The new rule also expands the transaction base beyond rents, services and financial transactions; the sales of tangible goods are now potentially reportable.
In July, the IRS announced that purchases made with credit or debit cards would be exempt from the new reporting requirement since those transactions are, in theory, already reported by banks and third party processors. The IRS has since sought additional public comment on how to most effectively carry the new law “in a manner that minimizes burden and avoids duplicate reporting.”
You can submit a comment in the following ways:
- Email comments@irscounsel.treas.gov – be sure and include “Notice 2010-51” in the subject line so that it gets routed appropriately;
- Good ol’ snail mail to IRS, CC:PA:LPD:PR (Notice 2010-51), Room 5203, PO Box 7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044;
- Drop it off in person to CC:PA:LPD:PR (Notice 2010-51), Courier’s Desk, IRS, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The deadline for public comment is September 29, 2010.
Be sure to use language that you wouldn’t mind your mother reading: all comments will be available for public inspection and copying.
Ah — I hadn’t realized that debit/credit card transactions would be exempt. That’s huge — our shop pays for almost everything with plastic, so that reduces the burden big-time. If they would further extend the exemption to include payments made via electronic banking, we’d basically be home free, since we rarely write checks.
I love the fact that debit and credit card transactions are exempt. I’m curious about Paypal transactions. Paypal seems like the new currency;)
Urbie and Rebecca,
I haven’t seen the final word on this from IRS but as of July, they were using the term “payment cards” which would seem to exclude electronic payments via ACH or PayPal. I certainly agree that these exclusions would make sense. I recommend letting the IRS know! 🙂
Has there been any discussion on whether form 1099-MISC would change due to the exapansion of reportable payments? Will there be new boxes for example? I haven’t seen anything written on this.
You can also sign on to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s letter in support of the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act – this act is in direct response to the new 1099 requirements oppossing the mandate:
http://www.votervoice.net/Core.aspx?AID=1067&APP=GAC&IssueID=22506&SiteID=-1