Obama provides hope for US accountants

President Obama’s State of the Union address this week offered encouragement for US accountants struggling with paperwork issues arising from his healthcare reforms.

Obama has promised to reduce unnecessary pressure on businesses, seemingly in response to the profession’s opposition to the additional compliance burden surrounding the reforms.

This latest sign of compromise from the president was interpreted by Edward Karl, vice president of taxation for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), to mean that the President supports a halt to the onerous 1099 requirements set out in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Speaking with our sister title AccountingWEB.com after the President's address, Karl stated, "Absolutely - I've heard him specifically talk about it. I heard him say right after the election in November when there was already discussions about repealing health care that he would entertain specific issues, and he mentioned the 1099 provision. That’s something that we clearly support."

Perhaps borrowing a leaf from the UK's coalition government, the President also made a general statement about simplifying the tax code.

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