Lincoln calls for repeal of section of health law

[The Northerner]

Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln on Friday called for a repeal of a provision of the health care law that requires businesses to file tax forms for every vendor that sells them more than $600 in goods, pushing for a change to a measure that's become a central issue in her re-election fight.

Lincoln's office she's the first Senate Democrat to back a proposal by Republican Sen. Mike Johanns of Nebraska to strike the provision from the law. Republican Congressman John Boozman, who's running against Lincoln in November, has backed a similar proposal to repeal the provision in the House.

Lincoln says she believes the provision would unfairly burden small businesses with paperwork.

"While the provision in question was intended to improve tax reporting and reduce the number of IRS audits, I have heard from many Arkansans who strongly feel that complying with this new reporting requirement would have the unintended consequence of burdening small businesses that lack the resources to maintain this level of detailed recordkeeping," Lincoln said in a statement released by her office.

The provision, which is expected to affect nearly 40 million U.S. businesses, was intended to prevent vendors from underreporting their income to the Internal Revenue Service. Businesses already must file Form 1099s with the IRS when they purchase more than $600 in services from a vendor in a year. The new provision would extend the requirement to the purchase of goods, starting in 2012.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9HE7MVG0.htm