Revised BCRA Maintains Employer Reporting Provisions

Tom Hospod
July 17, 2017

This blog was last updated on March 11, 2019

As written, revised Better Care Reconciliation Act will not operate to eliminate either of the reporting requirements on 1094/1095 series forms.

The Senate’s second draft of the Better Care Reconciliation Act would maintain employer information reporting obligations under Internal Revenue Code §§ 6055 and 6056. Changes to minimum essential coverage provisions may give rise to a potential modification of those reporting requirements at some point in the future – as the law would allow individuals to maintain coverage that does not comply with federal regulations.

The revised BCRA includes several new provisions primarily aimed at swaying wary conservatives who initially withheld their support, while also assuaging the concerns of moderate holdouts. Although, like the previous version, this bill would nullify the employer and individual mandate marketplace penalties, it would not have any effect on employer reporting. As written, it will not operate to eliminate either of the reporting requirements on 1094/1095 series forms.

An amendment offered by Senator Cruz does have the potential to impact minimum essential coverage reporting in the indeterminate future. By permitting off-exchange plans that are not compliant with ACA regulations, the IRS could conceivably relax these reporting obligations to ease the burdens on providers of basic catastrophic coverage plans. The bill by itself, however, will not eliminate this reporting requirement; it would require an additional act of Congress and IRS executive action to relieve providers from these obligations. Congress is not currently contemplating such plans.

Because this bill maintains the current premium tax credits, the IRS will maintain the employer information reporting regime in order to properly administer the credits for individuals who are not offered plans through their employers. Like the prior version of the BCRA, this new version would not phase out the premium tax credit in 2020.

The Senate is expected to consider the procedural measure on whether to bring this bill to the floor following the CBO report early next week.

Sign up for Email Updates

Stay up to date with the latest tax and compliance updates that may impact your business.

Author

Tom Hospod

Tom Hospod is a Regulatory Counsel at Sovos Compliance. Within Sovos’ Regulatory Analysis function, Tom focuses om Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting, Tax Withholding, and Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI). Prior to Sovos, Tom worked as a legislative aide in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Tom is a member of the Massachusetts Bar, earned his B.A. from Boston College and his J.D. from the University of Miami.
Share this post

CATNAT Regime
North America VAT & Fiscal Reporting
April 29, 2025
CATNAT Regime: Treatment of Natural Catastrophe Insurance in France

This blog was last updated on April 29, 2025 As some countries either introduce or consider introducing mandatory natural catastrophe insurance (e.g., Italy this year), France is ahead of the curve. This is because France already has a specific compensation scheme in place for coverage of property against natural disasters, and has had one since […]

Hungary tax penalty
EMEA North America VAT & Fiscal Reporting
April 15, 2025
Hungary: Tax Penalty Regime

This blog was last updated on April 15, 2025 Hungary’s tax penalty consequences of non-compliance with tax requirements are governed by the Act on Rules of Taxation. The law outlines a range of sanctions for non-compliance, including tax penalties, default penalties, late payment interest and self-revision fees. This blog will provide an overview of each […]