Tax Law and News ACA 2015 Guide: Everything you Need to Know When Preparing Business Tax Returns Read the Article Open Share Drawer Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) Written by Scott Cytron Modified Jun 18, 2019 2 min read Some of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) apply only to small businesses with more than 50 full-time employees (or equivalents). These employers are not subject to the employer shared responsibility provision and won’t be required to pay a penalty if they don’t provide affordable health coverage. Still, there are several tax provisions under the ACA that your small business clients should take into consideration. For businesses that have close to 50 employees, or whose workforce fluctuates throughout the year, it’s important to properly calculate the number of employees. You can view a helpful guide here. Employers with fewer than 50 employees can purchase health insurance for its employees through the Small Business Options Program (SHOP). Plus, small businesses that have fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees and average annual wages of less than $50,000 may be eligible for the small business health care tax credit. To qualify, employers should purchase insurance through the SHOP and cover at least 50 percent of their full-time employees’ premium costs. Small business employees must withhold and report an additional 0.9 percent on employee wages or compensation that exceed $200,000 – this is known as the Additional Medicare Tax. They may be required to report the value of the health insurance coverage on W-2 forms. New this year: If the business provided self-insured health coverage to employees in 2015, they must file an annual return reporting certain information for each employee covered. You can view some of the basic information here. More than 95 percent of employers have fewer than 50 full-time employees and fall into the provisions above. Stay informed with Intuit® Professional Tax Group’s helpful toolkits on the ACA so that you can easily guide your clients through the ACA-related tax changes. The due date for providing the 2015 Form 1095-B, Health Coverage, and Form 1095-C, Employer Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage, to individuals has been extended from Feb. 1, 2016, to March 31, 2016. Previous Post Open Enrollment for Marketplace Plans Ends Jan. 31, 2016 Next Post National Taxpayer Advocate Reports to Congress Written by Scott Cytron Scott H. Cytron, ABC, is editor of the Intuit® Tax Pro Center. He brings more than 35 years' experience in accounting and financial services to the profession. An accredited consultant, Scott works with companies, organizations and individuals in professional services (medical, legal, accounting, engineering), high-tech and B2B/B2C product/service sales. Follow Scott on Twitter @scytron. More from Scott Cytron Comments are closed. Browse Related Articles Workflow tools On the Books podcast: Merry books-to-tax season Tax Law and News Navigating year-end planning for businesses Practice Management How market competitors have become firm predators Tax Law and News Accountant’s guide to secure file sharing Practice Management Consultant spotlight: Jason Tritle Practice Management Consultant spotlight: Corey Spear Practice Management Consultant spotlight: Drew Hickman Practice Management Top 7 advantages of choosing a firm niche Advisory Services Your firm: Maximizing value over volume Practice Management ProSeries® Tax spotlight: Nayo Carter-Gray, EA, MBA