Or, use a credit or debit card for purchases that would otherwise aggregate to more than $599.

Wait -- wouldn't this help the economy by creating many competing entities in any given space?

Or hurt it by forcing people to use a less efficient supplier. Competition is only good if it organic in nature, (ie: comes about because both have efficient methods and high quality products, even though they differ to some degree) not if it forced competition. Then you end up getting a worse product when you could have gotten a better one.

Unlikely, that sounds like more work than just sending out the 1099.