Deadline extended for issuing ACA forms to employees
Posted January 9, 2018
By Michael Henckel, associate editor, J. J. Keller & Associates
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has extended the deadline for distributing health coverage forms to employees, as required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Previously, insurers and employers had until January 31, 2018, to provide the forms, but the IRS determined that a substantial number of employers, insurers, and other providers of coverage need additional time to prepare the 2017 forms and extended the deadline to March 2, 2018.
Self-insured employers with fewer than 50 full-time employees must complete and provide Form 1095-B, Health Coverage, to employees and their dependents, while employers with 50 or more full-time employees must complete and provide Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage, to employees and their dependents.
The IRS also extended the good-faith relief from certain penalties for errors on the 2017 forms. Specifically, employers or other reporting entities that can show they made good-faith efforts to comply with the reporting requirements will not be penalized for incorrect or incomplete information on the forms. This applies to missing or inaccurate taxpayer identification numbers and dates of birth, as well as other information required.
Filing deadlines to the IRS not extended
While more time has been granted to supply forms to employees, the deadlines for filing returns to the IRS have not changed. The deadlines are as follows:
- February 28 for paper filers,
- April 2 for electronic filers.
Note that employers filing 250 or more Forms 1095-C are expected to file electronically unless receiving a waiver from the IRS.
The bottom line is this: Employers have an additional 30 days – until March 2 – to issue health coverage forms to employees, but IRS filing deadlines remain the same.
About the author:
Michael Henckel is an associate editor at J. J. Keller & Associates, a nationally recognized compliance resource company that offers products and services to address the range of responsibilities held by human resources and corporate professionals. Henckel specializes in topics such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, employee classification, and compensation. He is the author of J. J. Keller’s FSLA Essentials guidance manual. For more information, visit www.jjkeller.com/hr and www.jjkellerlibrary.com.