As the fifth anniversary of its enactment fast approaches,
employers continue to confront significant challenges in
determining and meeting their obligations under the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, as amended
("PPACA"). This is unsurprising given the fact that many
obligations continue to evolve, as evidenced by the forms and
accompanying instructions for reporting certain health coverage
information for the 2014 taxable year finalized by the IRS in
February 2015 (collectively, the "2014 Forms").
While reporting for the 2014 taxable year is purely
voluntary, this client alert highlights for employers the broader
relevance of the 2014 Forms.
The 2014 Forms consist of two sets of forms and accompanying
instructions. As discussed in our September 2014 client alert
"
IRS Issues Draft Instructions for Reporting Health Coverage
Information", the "B-Series" Forms are to be
used by non-ALE employers providing MEC by means of a self-insured
group health plan. The "C-Series" Forms are to be used by
ALEs. Each series consists of a transmittal form to be provided to
the IRS (Form 1094-B or 1094-C, as applicable) and an information
return to be provided to individual taxpayers (Form 1095-B or
1095-C, as applicable). The IRS has also issued Publication 5196
which provides an overview of the ALE reporting requirement (i.e.,
the C-Series Forms).
As noted above, completing the 2014 Forms is purely voluntary and
thus an individual decision each employer must make. Employers may
choose to (1) prepare 2014 Forms but not submit them to the IRS,
(2) prepare 2014 Forms and submit them to the IRS, or (3) not
prepare 2014 Forms at all. Even employers who choose not to prepare
2014 Forms at all, however, may find it useful to review the 2014
Forms early in 2015. While the forms and instructions for the 2015
taxable year (collectively, the "2015 Forms") may include
revisions to the 2014 Forms, the 2014 Forms can nonetheless help
employers determine the information they should collect in 2015 in
order to properly complete the 2015 Forms.
The 2014 Forms contain important revisions to the previously issued
drafts. Inter alia, such revisions include (1) simplified reporting
for certain ALEs with non-employees enrolled in their self-insured
group health plans, (2) new options for ALEs when counting their
total number of employees, and (3) clarification of certain rules
applicable to "authoritative transmittals". The available
and preferred options for satisfying the applicable information
reporting requirements will depend on an employer's specific
facts.
We first discussed the Treasury regulations on which the 2014 Forms
are based in our March 2014 client alert "
Final IRS Regulations on Information Reporting Under
PPACA."
This article is designed to give general information on the developments covered, not to serve as legal advice related to specific situations or as a legal opinion. Counsel should be consulted for legal advice.
