For the first time in four years, the IRS adjusted the affordability percentage used for the shared responsibility penalties. The IRS recently announced that the affordability percentage for 2025 will be 9.02%....more
For the third year in a row, the IRS adjusted the affordability percentage used for the shared responsibility penalties down. The IRS recently announced that the affordability percentage for 2024 will be 8.39%. This is down...more
On October 13, 2022, the IRS finalized regulations (the “Final Rule”) intended to revise the method of determining affordability under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for an employee’s family members by considering whether the...more
Applicable large employers must adhere to many Affordable Care Act (ACA) rules to remain compliant regarding group health plan offerings. We offer the following checklist of the five most helpful reminders you should take...more
A recently released redacted report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) offers some helpful insights for employers who may be assessed shared responsibility payments because the IRS thinks they...more
The IRS Office of Chief Counsel recently issued a memo which, in a surprise to many, concluded that the filing of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) Forms 1094-C and 1095-C (“C Forms”) does not start the statute of limitations...more
The IRS has not yet finalized the ACA reporting forms (i.e., the 1094-B/C and 1095-B/C) for the 2019 tax year, so it is no surprise that the IRS issued guidance this week extending the deadline to furnish the forms to...more
As we previously reported, on June 13, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”) issued a coordinated set of final regulations (“final rules”) permitting employers...more
Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of September 23 – 27, 2019. September 24, 2019: The IRS issued a notice that provides a safe...more
Many employers began to receive notices from the IRS in 2018 proposing the assessment of a payment against the employer for the tax years 2015 and 2016 under Section 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code. The issuance of these...more
Watch All of the Company’s Mailboxes for a New Round of Tax Assessments - Another wave of Internal Revenue Service (“Service”) assessments of the employer shared responsibility tax (a/k/a pay or play) were recently released....more
Within the past few weeks, IRS officials have informally indicated that the IRS would begin assessing tax penalties under the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer shared responsibility. The IRS has now updated its Questions...more
You may recall that President Trump signed an executive order on the day of his inauguration directing all agencies to minimize the economic burden of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) pending its repeal. You may recall also that...more
Senate Republicans failed to pass legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act last week. After voting to proceed with debate on the American Health Care Act, which was passed by the House in May, the Senate...more
Efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) are in full swing as the U.S. Senate considers whether to modify the House of Representative’s American Health Care Act (“AHCA”) or draft its own ACA repeal...more
As we noted in a previous post, the recently issued final 2015 Instructions for Forms 1094-C and 1095-C changed certain of the rules relating to the reporting for offers of COBRA coverage where the COBRA qualifying event...more
The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer shared responsibility rules provide applicable large employers (i.e., those with 50 or more full-time and full-time equivalent employees on business days during the preceding calendar...more
When it comes to mergers and acquisitions involving at least one applicable large employer (ALE), the substantive rules governing employer shared responsibility (under Internal Revenue Code § 4980H) and the corresponding...more
Under a common strategy for controlling group health care plan costs, employers sometimes adopt arrangements under which an employee is offered cash as an incentive to waive coverage. These arrangements are colloquially...more
Ever since the Treasury Department in early 2014 issued final regulations on the employer shared responsibility tax (ESR tax)1 and the related final reporting regulations (ESR regulations)2 under the Patient Protection and...more
In this volume, we have collected the 52 weekly blog posts that comprise the series entitled, The Affordable Care Act—Countdown to Compliance for Employers. The series appeared in the Mintz Levin Employment Matters Blog...more
The Affordable Care Act requires applicable large employers to make broad-based offers of group health insurance coverage to substantially all their full-time employees or face potential tax penalties. (The term “applicable...more
On February 24, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) jointly released...more
Governor Deval Patrick recently approved the Commonwealth’s 2014 fiscal year budget, which includes provisions repealing both the Fair Share Contribution (FSC) and the Health Insurance Responsibility Disclosure (HIRD) form...more
Earlier this month, the IRS issued proposed regulations that provide much-needed guidance on the new “pay or play” rules (also called the shared responsibility rules) that will apply to employers’ group health plans beginning...more