Earlier this week, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced a short-term delay for the reporting requirements imposed on employers as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Employers will still be required to provide their employees with a copy of the IRS Forms 1095 and submit the forms to the IRS either electronically or by mail.
The new deadlines are as follows:
- March 31 (extended from Feb. 1) for providing copies of Forms 1095-C and 1095-B to employees and other primary insureds
- May 31 (extended from Feb. 29) for filing paper Forms 1095-C and 1095-B with the IRS under cover of Form 1094-C or 1094-B, as appropriate
- June 30 (extended from March 31) for e-filing Forms 1095-C and 1095-B with the IRS under cover of Form 1094-C or 1094-B, as appropriate
Although the deadline extension isn’t significant, it does give those procrastinating, or those having issues with their ACA reporting vendor implementations, a little more time to get the needed data and reports completed.
It is important to note that because the deadlines have been delayed, extensions are no longer available. Employers with extension requests pending will not have those requests granted.
What about those employers who were prepared and ready to file their ACA-related filings by the original date? The IRS is encouraging employers to still prepare, file and distribute the forms as early as they can.
Are you singing for joy with the news of the delay? Share your thoughts below. Have more questions? Check out this alert from Lockton Benefit Group’s Compliance team, providing more information on the delay, or this alert looking at ACA year-end guidance from the feds.