The U.S. Chamber and small businesses voiced concern over a provision that would have required merchants to reconcile their payment card receipts, as reported by card processors to the IRS, with their gross sales. The groundswell of opposition caused members of Congress, including Rep. Aaron Schock, to introduce legislation to repeal the provision.

“Unless this section of the business income tax forms is eliminated, starting in 2012, all businesses across the United States who accept merchant cards will be subjected to costly and time-consuming daily data collection requirements that provide no value for the business operationally and would be of marginal significance to the IRS in determining whether a taxpayer is tax compliant,” Chamber Executive Vice President of Government Affairs Bruce Josten wrote in a February 1 letter to the IRS and Treasury Department. 

 

In a February 9 response, IRS Deputy Commissioner Steve Miller pledged: “There will be no reconciliation required on the 2012 form, nor do we intend to require reconciliation in future years. Our intention is that the reporting of gross receipts and sales on the 2012 income tax forms will be modeled on the 2010 income tax forms. No other changes to these forms related to payment card reporting are contemplated.”