Employers are still required to report to the federal government and their employees their healthcare standing on the new 1094 and 1095 forms, but the deadline for doing so has been extended, the Treasury Department and IRS announced over the holiday.
In a slight reprieve, the government states:
“[This] notice extends by two months the February 1 due date for employers and issuers to provide individuals with forms reporting on offers of health coverage and coverage provided. The February 29 and March 31 deadlines for reporting this information to the IRS (by paper or electronically, respectively) are extended by three months.”
What does this mean for COATS users? If you are an Applicable Large Employer (ALE) and required to file both the 1094-C and 1095-C forms:
- The Feb. 1 deadline refers to the 1095-C form (the form provided to employees). That new deadline will now be Mar. 31.
- Regarding the Mar. 31 electronic filing deadline for the 1094-C file (to the IRS), your deadline is now June 30 (instead of Mar. 31).
You’ll note that the new reporting requirement to employees is later in the tax season, only a couple of weeks before the Apr. 15 individual tax filing deadline. The IRS made clear that should an employee receive their 1095-C after they file their tax return that they will not have to file an amended return, but should retain the form in case needed later. The employee needs only to indicate on their individual return that they had health coverage the entire year.
Also, if a client chooses to file by paper in lieu of electronically (the Feb. 29 deadline), that deadline is also pushed to May 31, but it is up to the client to ensure that they are printing and submitting the paper form correctly as COATS prints for landscape 1095-C but did not have the IRS authorize the submission of a paper format.
“We’ve come a long way in 2015 and our ACA tools and forms are ready for our users,” said Karen Connor, COATS VP of Business Development. “But this delay by the government further shows that this transition wasn’t the easiest thing to accomplish – but we are pleased we were able to manage and are prepared for clients to have the tools they need to be successful.”