Tips for Completing Affordable Care Act Tax Forms

Beginning in January 2016, employers are REQUIRED to file annual information returns with the IRS and deliver employee statements containing information about health plan coverage under the Affordable Care Act’s Employer Shared Responsibility Rule. Employers should take note that this is in addition to reporting health care costs on W-2 forms.

Here are some tips for completing the new Affordable Care Act Tax Forms.

Form 1095-C – Employer Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage

Form 1095-C reports information about health insurance coverage offered and any safe harbors or other relief available to the employer, or reports that no offer of coverage was made. It also reports enrollment information from employers who offer self-insured plans and information about employees and individuals who enrolled in minimum essential coverage.

What you need to do:

• Provide to full-time employees to use when filing their tax returns.
• File with the IRS as an information return.

How form 1095-C is used:

• Helps the IRS determine if your organization potentially owes an employer shared responsibility payment to the IRS.
• Helps the IRS determine whether your full-time employees and their dependents are eligible for the premium tax credit.

What you need to complete form 1095-C:

• Who is a full-time employee for each month.
• Identifying information for employer and employee, such as name and address.
• Information about the health coverage offered by month, if any.
• The employees share of the monthly premium for lowest cost self-only minimum value coverage.
• Months the employee was enrolled in your coverage.
• Months the employer met an affordability safe harbor with respect to an employee and whether other relief applies for an employee for a month.
• If the employer offers a self-insured plan, information about the covered individuals enrolled in the plan, by month.

Form 1094-C – Transmittal of Employer Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Returns

Form 1094-C provides a summary to the IRS of aggregate employer-level data.

What you need to do:

• File with the IRS as a transmittal document for Forms 1095-C, Employer Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage.

How form 1094-C is used:

• This form helps the IRS determine whether an employer is subject to an employer shared responsibility payment and the proposed payment amount.

What you need for form 1094-C:

• Identifying information for your organization.
• Information about whether you offered coverage to 70% of your full-time employees and their dependents in 2015. (After 2015 this threshold changes to 95%.)
• For the authoritative transmittal you will need:
  • Total number of forms 1095-C you issued to employees.
  • Information about members of the aggregated applicable large employer group, if any.
  • Total employee counts by month
  • Whether you are eligible for certain transition relief.

Click here to view all Affordable Care Act Tax Forms.