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ALE's Need To Prepare for ACA Reporting Now!

Employee Benefits Compliance requires complex reporting, such as Form 5500 and Form 1094/1095.

The significant changes to the 5500, such as the new Schedule J for Group Health Information, will require close coordination and sharing data with ACA reporting — which is not going away soon.

Many employers may believe that “ACA Repeal” will mean that Form 1095 ACA reporting and filing will disappear... This is incorrect. So the time to prepare for TY2017 Reporting is now. Strict deadlines are coming as early as Feb. 1, 2018.

Under current law and under both proposed Congressional Repeal bills (House and Senate Versions) the IRS requirement to report remains unchanged. This means that your clients need to file Form 1095 for Tax Year 2017.
Contact us to see how we can help you keep up to date and help you remain in full compliance.

Why So Much Confusion Around ACA Reporting?

Since one of the major purpose of the ACA reporting and filing is to provide the data the IRS needs to determine penalties, many people assume that repeal of penalties is also the repeal of reporting and filing. No Penalty — No Reporting.

It makes sense but its not true. In fact, filing proceeds even when penalties are repealed.
Under the current ACA there are two types of penalties,

  • Compliance penalties that are connected to the various mandates for ALE's to offer and for individuals to have Heath Insurance, and
  • Reporting and Filing penalties which concern failure to provide Form 1095 to employees or provide data to the IRS.

The proposed Congressional Bills eliminated only the Compliance penalties in connection with the individual mandate and the employer responsibility, but they do not eliminate the Reporting and Filing Penalties.

Click here to see our chart outlining the impact on the current ACA of the Congressional Repeal bills (House and Senate versions).

ALE's Filing 250+ Form 1095's Must eFile

The IRS has encouraged all Applicable Large Employers (ALE's) of any size to file electronically. An ALE providing more than 250 Form 1095 reports must file these forms electronically.

Organizations with fewer than 250 Form submissions may file their IRS report in paper hard copy but with an earlier deadline requirement, currently February 28, 2018.

Efiling to the new IRS AIR System is not an easy task. ALE's must either:

  • Apply for a Transmitter Control Code (TCC) from the IRS, test their software and connect to the IRS AIR System to transmit their data, or
  • Use the services of an authorized IRS efiler and IRS AIR transmitter such as BenefitScape.

If you want to learn more about how we can eFile for your organization, go to our website IRSAIR.com

How BenefitScape Can Help You

At BenefitScape we recognize that all employers are very unique. They have very distinct organizational structures, different types of employees, supported by the functional areas involved in Healtcare ACA reporting, such as payroll, benefits, legal, IT, HRIS and finance. Because your organization has unique requirements, you need to find a customizable solution to satisfy your ACA reporting obligation.

BenefitScape is the most flexible economical solutions provider in the ACA Compliance arena. We have the clients, the references, the experience and the technology to prove it!

BenefitScape can help ensure that your organization is in full compliance. To find out how we can help you, please contact Kim Phillips at 508.655.3307 or email: kim.phillips@benefitscape.com or


Reporting and Filing Extensions

Because the deadlines for TY2017 are very tight...only 30 days in January to prepare and mail employee forms; considering a request an extension of time should be considered. There is also a significant amount of confusion about how the ACA reporting extensions work. The first thing you need to know is that there are TWO DIFFERENT extensions which require different requests to the IRS.

 

  1. IRS Filing: Extension of time to file to the IRS (deadline Feb. 28,2018 for paper filers, April 2, 2018 for eFilers )

  2. Form Distribution: Extension of time to distribute Form 1095 to employees (deadline Jan. 31,2018).

     

IRS Filing: An  Applicable Large Employer (ALE), must file the appropriate forms 1094 and 1095 with the IRS.  Should you need additional time submitting the data to the IRS, you can receive an automatic 30-day extension by completing Form 8809. To download a fillable version of PDF Form 8809 for a deadline extention, click here

 

Form Distribution: There is a totally separate procedure to request deadline extensions for employers to furnish Form 1095 to recipients.

You may request an extension of time to furnish the statements to recipients by sending a letter to Internal Revenue Service, Information Returns Branch, Attn: Extension of Time Coordinator, 240 Murall Drive, Mail Stop 4360, Kearneysville, WV 25430.

The letter must include (a) filer name, (b) filer TIN, (c) filer address, (d) type of return, (e) a statement that extension request is for providing statements to recipients, (f) reason for delay, and (g) the signature of the filer or authorized agent. Your request must be postmarked by the date on which the statements are due to the recipients. If your request for an extension is approved, generally you will be granted a maximum of 30 extra days to furnish the recipient statements.