Treasury and IRS Announce Extension of ACA Reporting Requirements

Early 2016 due dates for employer reporting requirements extended under the health-care law.

December 30, 2015

WASHINGTON – This week the U.S. Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced in Notice 2016-4 that the due dates for information reporting for employers under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have been extended. This is the first year that employers and insurers are required to report certain information about health coverage to employees, other individuals and the IRS.

Several due dates for employers to file with the IRS were extended: the 2015 Form 1095-B, Health Coverage (and the 1094-B transmittal); and the 2015 Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage (and the 1094-C transmittal). If filing in hard copy, the dates were extended from February 29 to May 31, 2016; and if filing electronically, the dates were extended from March 31 to June 30, 2016. The due date for providing the information statements to individuals was extended from February 1 to March 31, 2016.

The IRS is prepared to begin accepting this reporting in January, and is encouraging employers and insurers to begin reporting to employees and other individuals as soon as possible. However, in response to stakeholder feedback, this extension will provide employers and insurers a limited additional period of time to meet these requirements, while maintaining the ACA reporting requirement for 2015.

“As part of our efforts to implement the ACA in a careful and thoughtful way, the Treasury Department and the IRS are responding to feedback from private sector businesses and insurers and providing additional time for employer and insurer reporting under the ACA for the first year,” said Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy Mark Mazur.

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