1099’d to Death

Already every freelancer, small business, and really everyone else dreads taxes, but a change slipped into the Health Care Reform bill is going to be an absolute nightmare to deal with starting January 1, 2012.  

The new change requires freelancers, contractors, or companies to issue 1099s for services and goods over $600 to both individuals and companies.  What does this mean?  If you buy an iMac you’ll have to send Apple a 1099.  If you buy software upgrades from Adobe you’ll have to send them a 1099.  If you buy dozens of things from Amazon you’ll have to send them a 1099.

If the law was in effect last year I would have had to send out hundreds of 1099s to Apple, Best Buy, Dell, B&H Photo, Amazon, Virgin America, Alaskan Airlines, American Airlines, Mariott, HIlton, BlueShield, and the list goes on.

Whoever comes up with a web app/service to deal with sending out all these 1099s will be sitting on a gold mine.