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The IRS recently released new Affordable Care Act (ACA) IRS forms for 2024. The Employer Mandate outlines employer responsibilities for ensuring employees, and their families, have access to affordable healthcare insurance coverage.
Also known as the Employer Shared Responsibility Payment (ESRP) is part of the ACA and took effect in 2015. While the new forms do not contain significant changes from the previous year, there are some items to be aware of.
Final versions of four forms have been released. These include:
The “B” forms are used to report on those employees who had MEC (minimal essential coverage) in the tax year and, therefore, who are not responsible for individual shared responsibility payments. The B form instructions clarify that information reporting penalties for failure to file correct information are lower if applicable to small businesses with average gross receipts of $5 million or less.
Additionally, the form instructions now denote that the penalty per return increases to $660 with no annual maximum limitation if there is an intentional disregard of the requirements to file the returns and furnish recipient statements.
The “C” forms are to be filed by ALEs (applicable large employers) providing information to the IRS about employees who have been offered, and employees who have enrolled in health coverage for the 2024 tax year.
The C form instructions make note that the affordability safe harbor and qualifying offer method are applied using the 2024 percentage, which is 8.39%.
Effective with the 2024 tax filing year, taxpayers with 10 or more aggregate returns, including ACA returns, must file electronically. Paper filers must file forms by Feb. 28, 2025 — electronic filers must file by March 31, 2025.
While employer responsibilities under this mandate are fairly straightforward, there are some nuances and implications for employers that they must stay continually on top of and compliant with.
Filing requirements are one of these critical components.
Each year employers must file official documentation with the IRS indicating their compliance with the mandate. The four key areas of the ACA that impact employers include:
In addition, employers must accurately report the number of full-time employees and FTEs they had during a calendar year. That’s a task that isn’t as simple as it may sound. Tallying accurate employee counts can be complicated for employers with part-time and/or seasonal staff. The Look-Back Measurement Method can help.
Staying in compliance with ACA regulations and reporting requirements not only minimizes penalty risk for employers, but offers benefits for employees as well. Healthcare coverage is a highly valued employee benefit. Ensuring employees understand the benefits they have available to them—and that they take maximum advantage of those benefits is a win-win.
Smaller employers operating in a single state have ACA filing requirements that can be quite manageable. But the more employees a company has and the more states they operate in, the more complex and burdensome their filing responsibilities can become.
With Trusaic’s ACA Complete® experience unmatched ACA compliance service and support. We deliver everything you need to track, prepare, furnish, file, and defend your ACA compliance. Our market-leading, comprehensive solution includes:
Contact us today to experience seamless, accurate, and reliable reporting, along with peace of mind.
Counsel/Associate Director of Regulatory Affairs
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