What Employers Need to Know about 2018 ACA Reporting
While there are few changes for 2018 ACA reporting and compliance for employers, all need to be recognized, understood and implemented.
Changes for 2018 ACA reporting to the IRS are:
- Federal Poverty Level has changed from $12,060 in 2017 to $12,140 for 2018
- Affordability percentage decreased from 9.69% in 2017 to 9.56% for 2018
- Section 4980H Transition Relief has been removed and is still not applicable to 2018
- Good Faith transition relief that applied to last year’s Forms 1094 and 1095 submittals was extended to include 2018
The ACA law still mandates Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) offer affordable minimum essential coverage (MEC) and enrollment in such coverage for all full-time and full-time equivalent (FTE) employees.
ALEs must annually report required information about whether or not the employer offered affordable minimum essential health coverage and enrollment in such coverage for eligible employees.
Employers Receiving Penalty Letters
For ALEs, ACA reporting still includes the annual filing requirements of forms 1095 and 1094 and the employer-shared responsibility provisions. Failure to comply can bring stiff penalties.
In fact, the number of employers receiving penalty letters from the IRS (Letter 226J) for non-compliance continues to increase for reporting years 2015 and 2016. The penalty amounts are staggering, as in the case of Assumption Parish School Board, which was facing a potential $1.2 million penalty from 2015 reporting. Penalty calculations are based on data provided by forms 1094 and 1095 submitted to the IRS, as described in “IRS Letter 226-J: How are ACA Penalties calculated?”.
New Deadlines for ACA Reporting: Forms 1095-B and 1095-C
Employers got an early Christmas present on November 29, 2018, from the IRS! The IRS Notice 2018-94 gives employers an extra 30 days to provide 1095s to employees. The new deadline for providing employees a 1095 is March 4, 2019. The due date for filing paper 1094 forms, however, remains February 28, 2019; electronically filed 1094s remain due April 1, 2019, if filing electronically.
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