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ACA Reporting Requirements

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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting requirements are on the minds of employers, C-level executives and business owners. With hefty penalties for not providing the right information on the annual returns and for not filing before the deadlines, companies realize that they need to understand what health insurance coverage data they have to report and when. The ACA laws are complicated, but companies must follow them to be compliant with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The New Requirements

An applicable large employer (ALE) is required to submit two forms known as the C-Forms. These forms are IRS Form 1094-C and IRS Form 1095-C. Large employers are companies with 50 or more full-time employees. A full-time employee (FTE) is a person …show more content…

The 1094-C is submitted to the IRS and provides information about a company's full-time employees. The information includes the type of health insurance the company offers full-time employees and the time period that the health insurance covers. This form is also used for the company to tell the IRS about its workforce such as the number of full-time employees and the number of part-time employees.

IRS Form 1095-C

IRS Form 1095-C is titled Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Insurance. The 1095-C uses the same information provided in Form 1094-C, but the employer sends this form to employees. Every FTE has to receive the 1094-C. The employees who are not required to get a C-Form are those in a waiting period to start receiving health coverage. Employers are also not required to give a C-Form to variable hour employees who are currently in an administrative period.

IRS Forms 1094-B and …show more content…

Although this can make the submission process more efficient, every company is still responsible for submitting accurate C-Forms and B-Forms before the deadlines. If a vendor makes errors when filing the forms with the IRS, the employer is liable and can face penalties. The third-party vendors are also subject to the same requirements applicable to third-party tax return preparers.

The Reasons for ACA Reporting Requirements

Congress enacted the reporting requirements for two important reasons. The first is a way for the IRS to know if large employers are offering their full-time employees affordable health insurance. Alternatively, the reporting requirements tell the IRS if companies are paying the penalty tax for not providing health coverage. By requiring the forms, the IRS knows which companies should pay the penalty tax.

Another reason for the reporting is to help the IRS to verify whether or not individual employees are eligible for the premium subsidy. The IRS can determine this once the agency knows the type of health insurance coverage offered by the employer and whether the employees offered the health plan are full-time or

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