White House Shrugs Off Complaint From Payroll Group

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday that President Obama isn’t worried about potential issues stemming from how to implement a short-term payroll tax cut extension.

In a letter this week to both the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees, the National Payroll Reporting Consortium, an independent payroll processing trade organization, said it might not be possible to make a two-month continuation of the two percent tax cut work.

“With the first of January now only two weeks away and payroll departments trying to meet year-end compliance mandates and reconciliation, there simply is insufficient time to implement this major change in withholding requirements,” wrote NPRC President Pete Isberg.

When asked about the letter during today’s briefing, Carney acknowledged the group’s concern, but said that Obama “is committed to asking his administration to work with American businesses to overcome whatever complications this might cause.”

“He’d rather do that…then ask Americans to spend the holidays worrying about how they’re gonna deal with $1,000 less next year,” Carney added.