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The Affordable Care Act and Forms 1094-C and 1095-C

  1. In general employers with less than 50 employees are not subject to these reporting requirements.
    1. Actually the cut off is for 50 FTEs (full time equivalent employees).
    2. If your business is close to 50 employees you should calculate the number of FTEs.
      1. For purposes of the Affordable Care Act a full time employer is 30 hours and up.
      2. You need to find the hours worked by part-time employees.
        1. Part-time employees are those who worked on average less than 30 hours per week, but more than 120 days per year.
      3. Seasonal employees are excluded from the calculations
      4. This calculation can be very complicated
      5. Here is a helpful government link for determining FTEs
    3. Your accountant can help with this determination.
    4. If you have less than 25 FTEs and provide health insurance you may qualify for the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
  2. If a business has more than 50 FTEs they are required to file forms Form 1095-C (Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage) and Form 1094-C (Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Returns).
    1. Form 1095-C is filed for each full time employee.
  3. The filing is required for full time employees who participate in the health plan and those who do not.
    1. The employer must provide the 1095-C to employees by Feb 1, 2016.
    2. The employer must file the forms with the IRS by Feb 29, 2016 (March 31, 2016 if filing electronically)
    3. Form 1094-C filing dates are the same.
  4. Grouping of companies with common ownership and self-insured programs are a few of many nuances with this law and it is wise to check with an accounting professional to verify your requirements. The penalties will be severe for not filing.