Be Prepared for IRS ACA Reporting in Tax Year 2016

It is important to know what information to gather before you begin the ACA reporting process. We’ve identified the following 7 key topics that may help with completing your ACA reporting in our Getting Started Checklist.

Getting Started Checklist – ACA Reporting

Identify common law employees

First, you will need to identify all common law employees. According to the IRS, anyone who performs services for you is your employee if you can control what will be done and how it will be done.

Identify full-time employees for each month

Next, you’ll want to identify full-time employees for each month. The IRS is very specific regarding how it counts full-time employees.

Click here to find additional help calculating the number of full-time employees.

Verify your employees’ TIN information

Verifying your employees’ TINs prior to filing is crucial to avoid having to re-file your forms, issue corrected forms to employees, and avoid potentially hefty fines from the IRS.

TINCorrect: Payee Verification Made Easy

Calculate whether you have satisfied the thresholds of ACA requirements

Beginning in Tax Year 2016, an employer must offer at least 95% of full-time employees affordable coverage.

Determine which affordability safe harbor to use

You will need to determine if the coverage offered is affordable using 1 of the 3 available safe harbors.

Determine a contact phone number for forms you’ll send to your employees

Probably one of the easier parts of the ACA preparation process, you will need to make sure your employees have a good contact number to reach you if they have questions about their Form 1095-C.

For self-insured plans, identify covered individuals and their social security numbers

Self-insured plans need to identify covered individuals (employee, spouse, and their dependents) and their social security numbers. A date of birth will work in lieu of a social security number if you’ve made a reasonable attempt to gather these SSNs.

Looking for additional information?

Check out our Knowledge Base for answers to our most popular questions regarding ACA Reporting. You can also contact us at [email protected].

If you’d like to learn more about ACA reporting, keep reading here:

BoomTax, The Boom Post, and its affiliates do not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors prior to engaging in any transaction.

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