As an employer or HR professional, it can be nerve-wracking to keep up with and implement the many rules, regulations and requirements for your employees. When it comes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), you may feel like you’re in quicksand, sinking into chaos and uncertainty.
The ACA was enacted in 2010, and the employer-shared responsibility provisions started in 2014. These employer ACA responsibilities are complex, and some requirements change each year.
IRS Penalties
It is a scary time, not because it’s Halloween. It’s frightening because the IRS is making good on its promise to clean its backlog of ACA non-compliance penalty notices. With over 87,000 new tax examiners and more than $80 billion in additional funding, the stakes for ACA non-compliance are high. A non-compliance error may cost nearly five thousand dollars per employee.
The IRS began issuing fines for 2020 last November 2022. This past August, they started sending out the penalty notices for 2021. They have already assessed hundreds of millions in ACA non-compliance penalties.
Breathe Easy with PT Business Solutions
Outsource your health benefits to PT Business Solutions to calm your nerves.
We will advise you and work with you to ensure compliance. Here’s how we can help:
- Understand Your Obligations: We begin by evaluating and explaining the ACA employer-shared responsibility provisions that apply to you. These provisions are complex requirements related to offering affordable health insurance (affordable as determined by the IRS), accurate and timely reporting to the IRS, and providing accurate and timely notices to your employees.
- Offer Affordable Coverage: We ensure the health insurance you provide to employees is affordable and meets the minimum essential coverage criteria. This typically involves confirming the premium costs are not too high for employees and that the plans meet the minimum essential benefits. The IRS provides lengthy guidance to figure out the minimums and essentials.
- Keep Accurate Records: Our integrated payroll and benefits platform helps you maintain accurate records of employee enrollment, plan details, and any changes made to health benefits. This information is critical for ACA reporting and compliance.
- Fulfill Information Reporting Responsibilities: If you are subject to employer-shared responsibility provisions, you also have information reporting responsibilities. The IRS may change its forms and deadlines. We can handle these forms for you, but it is helpful to understand the process. Think of this as similar to filing your taxes. Your tax preparer is the expert, but you want to know what they are doing and why.
- Required companies must report information about health care coverage offered to full-time employees. The IRS will use this information to administer the employer-shared responsibility provisions and the premium tax credit.
- You must also furnish employees with a statement that includes the same information provided to the IRS. Employees may use this information to determine whether they may claim the premium tax credit on their individual income tax returns for each month of the calendar year.
- File on Time: It is extremely important to file required reports with the IRS and distribute relevant forms to employees on time. Late or incorrect filings can result in penalties.
- Review Compliance: We can periodically review your compliance to identify and address any potential issues before they become major problems.
- Avoid Penalties: Outsourcing to PT Business Solutions services contributes to your penalty avoidance.
- Communicate: We provide tools to support clear communication between you and your employees. We help you inform employees about their health benefit options and any plan changes and guide you in issuing required notices to employees.
- Stay Informed: We stay up-to-date with ACA regulations and send you periodic updates and reminders. We keep you informed, but we are your specialists focusing on employee healthcare issues so you can focus on your business.
Contact PT Business Solutions today before it gets too spooky.
