Employers subject to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) should be preparing employee statements and IRS returns for compliance. The ACA added the “employer shared responsibility provisions” under section 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code. These regulations affect employers referred to as applicable large employers (generally meaning, for each year, employers that had 50 or more full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, during the prior year). Generally, under section 4980H an applicable large employer that, for a calendar month, fails to offer to its full-time employees’ health coverage that is affordable and provides minimum value may be subject to an assessable payment if a full-time employee enrolls for that month in a qualified health plan for which the employee receives a premium tax credit.

Generally, employers subject to ACA reporting include the following:

• Employers with self-insured health plans (IRS Section 6055 reporting)
• Applicable large employers (ALEs) with either fully insured or self-insured health plans (IRS Section 6056 reporting). ALEs are those employers that have at least 50 full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, on average during the prior year.

Employers subject to Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting under Internal Revenue Code Sections 6055 or 6056 must complete the following for the Calendar year 2022:

• File IRS information about the health care coverage, if any, they offered to full-time employees by February 28, 2023, or if filed electrically, the information is due by March 31, 2023.
• Furnish employees a statement that includes the same information provided to the IRS by March 2, 2023.

Some ALEs may be eligible to use an alternative reporting method designed to simplify and reduce the cost of reporting. For more information about the alternative reporting methods, head over to the IRS site that lists the regulations.

Have questions about the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions under the Affordable Care Act? What to determine if your company is an Applicable Large Employer (ALE)? CLICK HERE to get answers through the IRS website.