IRS issues draft ACA reporting forms

The Internal Revenue Service recently released draft versions of the forms that will be used to meet the shared responsibility reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act. These draft forms have been released for comment and may not be used for filing until they are finalized. Instructions for the forms have not yet been issued, even in draft form. Those instructions may be even more informative than the forms themselves in providing additional guidance on the reporting requirements.

The issuance of these forms has been much anticipated since the Treasury Department issued tax regulations on the reporting requirements for both the individual mandate and the employer mandate in March. The reporting requirements are designed to notify the government about whether individuals and employers are meeting their obligations concerning health coverage under the ACA and to provide relevant information to individuals about their coverage and qualification for a subsidy through a health insurance exchange.

Also See: Feds release draft tax forms for employer compliance with ACA

The forms aim to fulfill the reporting requirements as follows:

6055 COMPLIANCE

6056 COMPLIANCE

Health insurance issuers, sponsors of self-funded health plans,   and other entities that provide minimum essential coverage must file:

Applicable large employers that employed an average of at least   50 full-time employees (including full-time equivalents) on business days   during the preceding year must file:

Form 1095-B

Form 1095-C

Form 1094-B transmittal page

Form 1094-C transmittal page

 

Special Rule: As part of an effort to streamline the reporting process, applicable large employers that sponsor self-funded health plans are to report the information required of them for both the individual and employer mandates on a single combined form using Form 1095-C. Substitute forms will be permitted if they include all of the content required by the prescribed forms and meet other IRS requirements.

Employers will need to update their recordkeeping systems to gather efficiently the month-by-month information required under the shared responsibility reporting requirements for the 2015 calendar.

Also See: IRS Releases Draft Forms for ObamaCare

As the federal health care reform effort gained steam, Ballard Spahr attorneys established the Health Care Reform Initiative to monitor and analyze legislative developments. With federal health care reform now a reality, our attorneys are assisting health care entities and employers in understanding the relevant changes and planning for the future. They also have launched the Health Care Reform Dashboard, an online resource center for news and analysis on developments under the ACA.

If you have questions about the draft forms released by the IRS or the shared responsibility reporting requirements, please contact Brian M. Pinheiro at 215.864.8511 or pinheiro@ballardspahr.com, Jean C. Hemphill at hemphill@ballardspahr.com, Diane A. Thompson at 424.204.4334 or thompsonda@ballardspahr.com, Edward I. Leeds at 215.864.8419 or leeds@ballardspahr.com, Jonathan M. Calpas at 215.864.8385 or calpasj@ballardspahr.com, or any other member of the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group with whom you work.

Jonathan M. Calpas is an associate at Ballard Spahr, where he represents for-profit, tax-exempt, church, and government employers on matters related to tax-qualified retirement plans and health and welfare plans. Edward I. Leeds, a Ballard Spahr counsel, concentrates on issues relating to the design, administration, and taxation of health and other welfare benefits plans.

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