Super-Charging the IRS with Government-Run Healthcare

In a previous blog post, I showed a cartoon joking about Obamacare as a Trojan Horse for the IRS, but with each passing day we are learning new - and always unpleasant - details about the mammoth legislation that was imposed by the left. The excerpt below from the Boston Globe reveals that businesses will face costly new reporting requirements to the internal revenue service because of government-run healthcare:

Tucked away in just 23 lines of Section 9006 of the Healthcare reform bill be a dramatic change in the 1099 reporting requirements. No longer will corporations or payments for merchandise be exempt 1099 reporting. This new law is effective January 1, 2012. A large majority of payments made by a business will now be reported on a 1099. ...There is no doubt this will be an administrative nightmare for many businesses in the first year or two. Taxpayer identification numbers need to be collected for all vendors. Have a large business related meal at a restaurant, this will need to be reported on a 1099. Spend a week in a hotel in Waco Texas, you will need to send a 1099.

My Cato colleague has more details in one of his recent blog posts.