"Inherent Difficulties" in Tax Gimmick Backed By Obama & Senate

12/19/2011 -- Ooooops, according to ABC News (ht Drudge), reported by Jake Tapper.

Here's the opener from Jake's ABC "Political Punch" posting:

"Two-Month Payroll Tax Holiday Passed By Senate, Pushed By President, Cannot Be Implemented Properly, Experts Say"

Officials from the policy-neutral National Payroll Reporting Consortium, Inc. have expressed concern to members of Congress that the two-month payroll tax holiday passed by the Senate and supported by President Obama cannot be implemented properly.

Pete Isberg, president of the NPRC today wrote to the key leaders of the relevant committees of the House and Senate, telling them that "insufficient lead time" to implement the complicated change mandated by the legislation means the two-month payroll tax holiday "could create substantial problems, confusion and costs affecting a significant percentage of U.S. employers and employees."
. . . .

And here is the ABC-linked letter from Peter Isberg of the "National Payroll Reporting Consortium." a politically neutral "non-profit trade association that does not take positions on policy."

UPDATE: Concurrence from the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors -- NAW, who have now written a letter (ht: Andrew Stiles at NRO here) to both the Speaker John Boehner and Senate President Harry Reid concurring with the conclusion of the National Payroll Reporting Consortium.

. . .
We are aware of the letter sent today to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees by the National Payroll Reporting Consortium, advising the Committee leaders of the “substantial problems, confusion and costs” that the proposed two-month extension of the reduced payroll tax rate would cause. In fact, the NPRC states that many payroll systems would simply not be able to make the programming changes that H.R. 3630 would require.

We concur with the conclusion of the NPRC on the logistical difficulties and costs that would result from enactment of H.R. 3630 as written.
. . . .

And, unlike the NPRC which does not comment on matters of policy, the NRW commented further on what they see as the undesirable policy aspects of the 2-month extension.

. . .
Moreover, the type of temporary and changing tax provisions that H.R. 3630 would impose would have an economic as well as a practical impact. A two-month extension of the current reduced payroll tax rate, with the implicit rise in that rate in the first quarter of 2011, would exacerbate and escalate the uncertainty about fiscal policies that has inhibited business activity and slowed economic recovery and job creation for the last several years.
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As just reported earlier today by The Hill, Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) and two other Republican Senators (Richard Lugar, R-IN, and Dean Heller, R-NV) -- all three of whom who are up for reelection in 2012 -- are publicly urging the House to go along with the two-month Senate provision. This may now come as an embarrassment to them for precipitously jumping on their House colleagues.