March 31: What Employers Need to Know About Health Insurance Reporting

It is the second year for reporting the Affordable Care Act, and many business owners may be wondering if there are any actions they need to take to ensure their business and employees are in compliance. New to tax year 2015 are two source documents: 1095-B and 1095-C. Both are now required by the IRS to show individuals have been offered minimum essential coverage.

How do you know if your client will need to file this form? They will likely fall into one of these three categories:

Employers with Less Than 50 Employees

Business owners with less than 50 employees don’t have to do anything differently this year. Their employees will likely receive a 1095-B, but this will come directly from the insurance provider. While employees will not need this form to file their taxes, they should be encouraged to check it for accuracy and save it for their records. The employer will not have to take any extra steps to report insurance coverage to the IRS.

Self-Insured Employers

Self-insured business owners with less than 50 employees will be required to provide a 1095-B statement to individual employees. They will also need to file a copy with the IRS to verify that the coverage provided meets the individual responsibility requirement. The employee will not need to wait for the form to file for taxes – they should just check it for accuracy and save it for their records. The deadline for employers to file this form with the IRS is March 31, 2016, and you can access instructions to file here.

Large Employers

Employers with more than 50 full-time employees will need to provide Form 1095-C, and file a copy with the IRS, to verify compliance with the employer responsibility, even if the employee chose outside coverage. Again, employees will not need the 1095-C to file their taxes either – they just need to check it for accuracy for their records. The deadline to file the form with the IRS is March 31, 2016, and you can access instructions to file here.

For more information about the tax implications of the ACA and helpful guides, please visit the Intuit® Affordable Care Act Resource Center, part of Intuit Tax Pro Center.