ACA Reporting: A Whole New Tax Obligation for HR/Benefits Professionals

Did you know that in this first year of mandatory ACA tax reporting there is expected to be over 700 million forms filed with the IRS? Are you prepared to do your part and report on time? Although you have been working diligently to provide minimum essential coverage healthcare plans for your full time employees (FTEs) and their dependents, you also need to report this proof of coverage information to the IRS. This is the largest tax filing expansion since the introduction of the W-2 and impacts every business with more than 50 FTEs. And even though you may have experience with reporting to other government entities, such as the Social Security Administration for wage reporting, the IRS has many more strict requirements, deadlines, complex forms, and processes for ACA Information Reporting. Remember, this is a tax obligation, not just a benefits statement. The information required on 1094 and 1095 forms is complex. You will probably have to pull information from multiple source systems and lines of business to populate these forms correctly. These forms must be sent to your employees and their dependents so they can show proof of coverage and claim their personal healthcare exemption on their  income tax returns. Getting it wrong or failing to provide the correct forms to employees is likely to result in a lot of calls and unhappy employees during tax season. You must also send this information directly to the IRS using their new AIR system. Despite the fact that the IRS is considering Tax Year 2015 a ‘good faith’ reporting year, there are still strict and severe penalties if you do not report on time to the IRS with accurate information to the best of your ability. With less than 100 business days until the reporting deadlines begin, now is the time to implement a scalable and adaptable technology software solution that will help you meet these new tax reporting obligations. Compliance is crucial. With other year-end obligations and business initiatives also competing for time, we know over-burdened HR/Benefit departments are feeling pressured and are looking for a trusted partner to help ensure a compliant reporting solution. Learn more about Taxport ACA and how we can help you fulfill these new ACA tax reporting obligations by attending one of our complimentary biweekly webinars. Sovos Compliance is here to ease the pain of these new compliance requirements by helping you with efficient statement delivery and form transmittals to the IRS. We can help you comply on-time and with confidence.