Employers have had a hard time meeting the Affordable Care Act health coverage reporting requirements, and the Internal Revenue Service has had a hard time monitoring employer compliance.
Officials at the office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, an agency that monitors the performance of the IRS, talk about IRS implementation of the ACA "employer shared responsibility" provisions, or employer mandate provisions, in a new report.
— (Related on ThinkAdvisor: 7 must-know new ACA tax administration facts)
The ACA added Section 4980(H) to the Internal Revenue Code. IRC Section 4980(H) requires many employers to provide affordable coverage with a minimum value to most full-time employees or face the possibility of having to pay a penalty. Affected employers have to report on offers of employee health coverage to the employees and to the IRS.
The reports show the IRS whether they might owe an employer mandate penalty. The reports also help the employees show whether they might qualify for ACA public exchange plan premium tax credit subsidies, or for other state or federal health coverage programs.
Employers with more than 100 employees, and some smaller employers, had to start filing coverage offer reports, on Form 1095-C, in 2016, for the 2015 tax year.
The IRS had processed 110 million 1095-C forms for 2015 by Oct. 28, TIGTA officials say in the new report.