Employer Methods for Reporting Offers of Coverage

When it comes to reporting your ACA return, there a few different ways to do so based on the coverage you offer your employees or recipients. Let’s dive straight into three of the most common, shall we?

General Reporting Method
What is likely to be the most used reporting method is the General Reporting Method. As a business with employees, this is the sort of reporting you’re used to, similar to when you file your 1099 or W-2 forms. You’ll complete Forms 1095-B or 1095-C for your employees/recipients with information on the health care coverage you offered and mail them off in January each year. Additionally, you’ll send copies of Form 1095-B or C along with Forms 1094-B or C (respectively) to the IRS by February 28/29 if you paper file and by March 31 if you e-file.

Reporting Based on Certification of Qualifying Offers
If you’re an applicable large employer (ALE) and the plan you offered to one or more of your employees meets all the requirements for being a qualifying offer, you can report your offers on a simplified return for the employees who received qualifying offers. The qualifying offer must last for all months of the year and must have been offered to the employee’s spouse and dependents (if applicable). Certain ALEs may be able to provide a simplified employee statement in lieu of a copy of Form 1095-C for each full-time employee under this reporting method.

98% Offer Reporting Method
This method is similar to the Qualifying Offer method, however it’s based on the quantity of coverage you offer rather than quality. If you’re an ALE who makes offers of coverage that meet the requirements for minimum essential coverage (MEC) and minimum value (MV) to at least 98% of their full-time employees can use the simplified reporting method detailed above. You must also be able to prove that anyone not offered the MEC was a part-time employee rather than a full-time one.

E-filing with ExpressACAForms
When you e-file with ExpressACAForms, we make every effort to make sure your forms are completed accurately and filed securely with the IRS. You can get started today by creating a free account at www.ExpressACAForms.com. If you have any questions or need assistance, you can give us a call at (704) 839-2270 Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET, or send us an email anytime to support@ExpressACAForms.com.

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Reporting Offers of Coverage on Your ACA Return

Welcome to an unofficial part two for frequently asked questions on offers of coverage and how to report them for Applicable Large Employers (ALEs). Since the rest of what’s reported on a 1094-C or 1095-C is your standard identifying information (name, address, SSN, etc.), we’ve found most of the questions we answer on the ExpressACAForms support lines have to do with reporting the offers of coverage codes.

It makes perfect sense: this is the first year anyone is dealing with these Affordable Care Act forms and codes. So let’s get started with answering the questions you have.

How should an ALE report an offer of coverage made to an employee for a specific calendar month?
To report an offer of coverage made to an employee, an ALE will use line 14 of Form 1095-C, under Part II, Offer of Coverage. Consult the offer of coverage codes to see which code best defines the offer provided for the employee for whom you’re filing this Form 1095-C. If one code applied for all 12 months of the year, you could enter it in the first box, “All 12 Months” and leave the remainder of line 14 blank. However, if you need to report an offer code for one or more specific months, you’ll just put the code in the appropriately marked box(es), Jan-Dec.

How should an ALE report the offer of coverage for the first month an employee was hired?
For the first month an employee was hired, ALEs should enter code 1H (no offer of coverage) unless the employee was offered (and accepted) coverage that applied each day of the month, even if they began work on a later day than the first. Keep in mind, though, that ALEs who use code 1H for the first month of employment may be entitled to relief under section 4980H liability if limited non-assessment period conditions apply. But more on that later.

How should an ALE report the offer of coverage for the last month a recipient was employed?
Like the first month of hire, unless your offer of coverage (or the coverage itself) extends to every day of the month someone’s employment was terminated, you’ll enter code 1H on line 14 for their last month. If the offer of coverage would have extended to the last day of the month had the employee not terminated his/her employment, you’ll still need to enter code 1H, however, you’ll be eligible for relief under section 4980H liability. You can indicate this by entering code 2B on line 16 for that month.

Are ALEs required to enter a code on line 16 of Form 1095-C?
No. The codes entered on line 16 of Form 1095-C indicate certain situations for employees (as in, their first or last month) or the type of safe harbor relief an ALE is eligible for under section 4980H. If any of the codes for line 16 apply for the employee for whom you’re filing, you’ll need to enter them in the appropriate month(s). Otherwise, you can leave line 16 blank.

E-filing with ExpressACAForms
Time is running out to e-file with ExpressACAForms before the ACA e-filing deadline tomorrow, June 30, 2016. If you need help with your account or have any questions about your forms, give us a call between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. ET at (704) 839-2270. If you need us after hours, we provide 24/7 email assistance via support@ExpressACAForms.com.

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Employer Reporting: Forms 1094-C & 1095-C

Since we’re getting down to the wire for the Affordable Care Act e-filing deadline for Forms 1094-C and 1095-C, we thought we’d take the time to answer a few commonly asked questions regarding offers of coverage and how to report them for Applicable Large Employers (ALEs).

For which employees does an ALE file Form 1095-C?
Typically, ALEs will file a Form 1095-C for each employee who was a full-time employee for any month of the calendar year. Additionally, ALEs that sponsor self-insured plans must file a Form 1095-C for any employee who enrolls themselves or a family member in the coverage, regardless of their full-time status.

What information must an ALE provide to its full-time employees?
All ALEs will need to send a completed copy of each Form 1095-C to the employee to whom it refers. Form 1094-C is sent only to the IRS, however, and not to individual employees.

For which employees is an ALE not required to file Form 1095-C?
Unless the employee or the employee’s family member was enrolled in a self-insured plan sponsored by the ALE, ALEs do not need to report Form 1095-C for these employees:

• An employee who wasn’t a full-time employee for any month of the year
• An employee who was in a limited non-assessment period for each month of the year

Which ALEs need to complete Part III of Form 1095-C?
Part III of Form 1095-C only needs to be completed by ALEs that sponsor a self-insured health plan for employees and family members of those employees who enrolled in the self-insured coverage. Do not complete Part III if you’re an ALE that offers coverage through an employer-sponsored health plan.

E-filing with ExpressACAForms
As a full-service ACA e-filing solution, ExpressACAForms helps ensure your Forms 1094-C and 1095-C are filed accurately and on time with the IRS. Create an account today to have your forms finished and filed by the deadline this Thursday, June 30. If you have any questions or issues along the way, give our US-based customer service center a call at (704) 839-2270 or send us an email to support@ExpressACAForms.com.

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E-file Your Ultipro, Evolution HCM, & PRO-WARE ACA XML with ExpressACAForms

Did you generate your ACA compliance data with Evolution HCM or a PRO-WARE software? Do you now need that ACA data to be e-filed with the IRS, but find yourself lacking the necessary Transmitter Control Code (TCC)?

Well look no further: ExpressACAForms is the best place to import that ACA data, no matter what format it’s in, and e-file it easily with the IRS. In addition to data that’s generated by Ultipro, Ultimate, Evolution HCM, or PRO-WARE, ExpressACAForms can also e-file data generated from any sort of ACA compliance software.


How Do I E-file my ACA Data to the IRS?
With ExpressACAForms, it’s very simple. Just sign up for an account to get started. Once your account is set up, you’ll add a small amount of information about your business, like the name, EIN, and person of contact.

Next, you’ll securely upload your ACA data in one of the following ways:

• Using your own custom Excel template,
• Using completed 1094 & 1095 PDFs,
• Using a generated 1094/1095 XML file, or
• Using any template format.

Once your upload is complete, you’ll signal us from your dashboard, and the program will begin generating your forms to send back to you for your approval. After you review and approve your forms, the program will transmit them securely to the IRS.

ExpressACAForms Features
When you e-file with ExpressACAForms, you automatically get access to these awesome features:

• Bulk Upload- Upload the ACA information of all of your employees/recipients in a single file.
• Data Validation- ExpressACAForms performs data validation checks for the ACA data you upload to help prevent common errors.
• TIN Matching & IRS Business Rule Validation- Among the data validation checks are TIN matching and IRS Business Rule validation processes to ensure your forms meet IRS standards.
• Unlimited Corrections- If anything went wrong during your e-filing and part of your return is rejected, we’ll notify you regarding any errors. You can then correct the errors and send them back to us for further processing.
• Real Time Notification- On each and every step of the ExpressACAForms process, you’ll be notified regarding the status of your return.
• Re-transmit Rejected Returns- If you needed to make any corrections, you can re-transmit the corrected return as many times as you need at no additional cost to you.
• Cloud-based Software- With ExpressACAForms’s cloud-based software, it’s easy to access your account and complete your return from anywhere at anytime.
• US-based Customer Support- Don’t hesitate to contact our US-based customer support for information about e-filing your ACA return. You can reach us via our 24/7 email assistance at support@ExpressACAForms.com, or give us a call (704-839-2270) or send us a live chat during our office hours (Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. ET).

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E-filing Your 1095 Forms with the ACA Experts

Believe it or not, how you e-file your Forms 1094 and 1095 can have a serious effect on the outcome of your ACA return. We’ve already talked about how paper filing just doesn’t measure up to e-filing, so we figure you’re probably here to see why you should e-file with ExpressACAForms rather than any of your other e-filing options. Well look no further, we’re here to tell you:

Ease of Filing
As far as being able to offer e-filing with speed and ease, you won’t find anyone faster or easier than ExpressACAForms. All you have to do is upload the ACA information you already have, and our state-of-the-art system processes and generates your return. Then you review everything and, if it looks good, hit the transmit button. You’d need magic or a time machine to get your paper forms completed that quickly.

TIN Verification and Error Checks
It’s one thing to just create your forms and send them directly to the IRS for you, but ExpressACAForms wanted to do more for you, the filer. That’s why we built in multiple error checks, including a TIN verification, at different steps of the process to ensure your return is sent error-free, saving you time and any potential fees.

Postal Mailing
While we - and the IRS - highly recommend e-filing, there’s one part of your ACA requirement that can’t be sent electronically: your recipient copies. Even if you e-file, the employee or recipient copies of Form 1095 you’re reporting still need to be printed and mailed to the appropriate recipient. At ExpressACAForms, we do that for you. Once you transmit your return, we guarantee we’ll have your recipient copies printed, stamped, and mailed by the next business day.

Meanwhile, Need Any Help?
With ExpressACAForms, you’re never left alone in the dark to figure out your ACA forms. Our expert customer support team is available by phone Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT at (704) 839-2270, and is available by email anytime at support@ExpressACAForms.com.

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The ACA E-filing Deadline is Only a Week Away

If you haven’t yet started on your ACA Forms 1094 and 1095 as a part of your Affordable Care Act return, it’s getting to be the time to begin doing so. The deadline to have your 2015 ACA Return e-filed to the IRS is next Thursday, June 30, 2016. The forms must be transmitted by 11:59 p.m. in whichever time zone you’re reporting.

But suppose you really haven’t started anything with your ACA forms. In fact, all you’ve got is the document you recorded your employees’ coverage information in as you offered it to them. Well, there’s no need to fret: if you decide to e-file with ExpressACAForms, you’ve got all you need to get your ACA return completed and e-filed quickly and accurately.

Once you create an ExpressACAForms account, all you have to do next is upload the ACA data you have, in whatever file format you have it in. This is a secure upload, and it alerts the program to begin checking your information and creating your ACA return. Once it’s processed, you just review the forms to make sure everything went in correctly, approve it, and it’s e-filed directly to the IRS.

But you’ve got to hurry and get started soon: time’s running out to e-file!

If you have any questions getting started or during the process, we’re here to answer questions by phone Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT, at (704) 839-2270. We also provide 24/7 email assistance at support@ExpressACAForms.com.

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E-file Your ACA Return for Just 10¢ a Form

Unless you’ve already filed your Affordable Care Act Forms 1094 and 1095 the old fashioned way by sending in paper forms to the IRS, you’re probably looking for an ACA e-filing service. Something you may experience in this hunt as an ACA filer in 2016, the first year of ACA filing (reporting tax year 2015), is a wide range of costs for seemingly similar e-filing services.

Because ExpressACAForms was created by a team of IRS-authorized e-filing experts, we’re able to offer fast and easy ACA e-filing through the program for a fair, competitive price. At ExpressACAForms, we generate and verify your ACA return at a base price of $499 per EIN and securely e-file the return for just 10 cents a form!

For that price, you have access to all of these amazing ACA services:

• Flexible employer/employee data capture
• Safe and secure ACA data generation
• TIN verification
• Built-in error checks
• Audit assistance
• Printable ACA Form 1094 and 1095 PDFs
• Expert, US-based support

And with ExpressACAForms, there’s a 100% money back guarantee, so there’s no risk to giving it a try.

Questions about getting started? Give us a call Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT at (704) 839-2270, or send us an email anytime to support@ExpressACAForms.com.

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ACA Reporting for Employers & Health Insurers

In the world of ACA filing, no two returns will be the same. Similarly, how you e-file your return depends on what your role is in the providing of health insurance coverage to taxpayers. In other words, applicable large employers (ALEs) will file differently than how health insurance providers will.

ACA Reporting for Employers
All applicable large employers (ALEs), or those that have more than 50 full-time employees throughout the year, are required to report their offers of coverage on Forms 1094-C and 1095-C each year, beginning with the 2015 tax year. Copies of Form 1095-C must be sent to the IRS, as well as to each full-time employee who was offered at least minimum essential coverage (MEC) that year.

Smaller employers, those with fewer than 50 full-time employees, aren’t required to meet the same coverage providing standards as ALEs. However, if they do choose to offer fully-funded health coverage to their employees, it’ll need to be reported on Forms 1094-B and 1095-B.

ACA Reporting for Health Insurers
Those who don’t fall under the ALE category but still provide health insurance coverage for individuals throughout the year will need to report this on Forms 1094-B and 1095-B. Like Form 1095-C, copies of Form 1095-B need to be sent to the recipients of the coverage as well as to the IRS.


ExpressACAForms offers fast and easy e-filing for all filers of ACA Forms 1094 and 1095, ALEs, small employers, and health insurers alike. Create an account today to get started. And if you need any help, we’re available Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at (704) 839-2270 and anytime at support@ExpressACAForms.com.

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ACA Form 1095 Corrections Made Easy with ExpressACAForms

A lot of ACA filers are finding out the hard way that the IRS’s AIR e-filing system isn’t the most user-friendly, especially when it comes to making any corrections your ACA return may require. Now, ExpressACAForms is here to tell you about an easier way, because the last things you need to deal with are even more errors due to confusing IRS jargon.

ExpressACAForms Fixes the Way You Fix Your ACA Forms
If you use the IRS’s AIR e-filing system to e-file your 1095 Forms and make an error, you may need a decoder to fix it - and that’s not an exaggeration. If your form is rejected for even the simplest of errors, your entire return will be sent back in one large file, leaving you to sift through the IRS coded document for the error in question. THEN, you have to figure out how to fix it and retransmit it.

If you e-file with ExpressACAForms and your form is rejected, we’ll intercept this IRS document and decipher it for you, delivering you easy-to-follow instructions to fix the error(s) causing your rejection. You can then retransmit your return at no additional cost to you. Do this as many times as you need, although if you’re e-filing with ExpressACAForms, you shouldn’t need too many.

So What Can You Fix on Form 1095?
With ExpressACAForms, even if you didn’t e-file your original return with us, you can correct employee information, offer and coverage details, and the details of other covered individuals on Forms 1095-B and 1095-C.


There’s no time like the present to get started e-filing your ACA return (it is due June 30, after all), and the easiest way to do that is with ExpressACAForms. Create an account today, and if you have any questions, give us a call at (704) 839-2270 or send us an email to support@ExpressACAForms.com.

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How Full-Service E-filing Works with ExpressACAForms

When we’re helping people set up their accounts with ExpressACAForms, we’re frequently asked how this full-service solution works, and what exactly is included in the “full” part of the service. We’ll we’re here to tell ya:


The Full-Service Process
When you begin your full-service ACA e-filing process, it’s understandable to wonder how that process will go. Here’s how in five easy steps:

• Create your ExpressACAForms account
• Provide your basic employer details and upload the employee health benefit details you’ve tracked over the year.
• Sit back and relax as the program works to create your return.
• When you get an email alerting you your return is ready, log back into your account to review and approve your forms.
• Click the big, green button to securely transmit your return directly to the IRS.

That’s it. We’ll send you an email when your return has been processed and let you know if it was accepted or rejected. In the event it was rejected, ExpressACAForms will take you step-by-step through correcting and retransmitting your return until it’s accepted.

What Else is Included?
So that’s nice: the majority of your ACA filing requirement (filling out the forms) is taken care of with ExpressACAForms’s full-service process. But we didn’t want to stop there. The full-service treatment usually means a VIP treatment, right? So to make you feel very important, we also included in ExpressACAForms these awesome features that help make sure your forms are filed efficiently and without error.

Not to Mention…
With your ExpressACAForms account comes access to some of the best customer support in the nation. If you have any questions or need help with your return, just give us a call at (704) 839-2270 Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT. We also offer 24/7 assistance at support@ExpressACAForms.com.

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ExpressACAForms E-filing Features

When you choose to e-file your ACA return with ExpressACAForms, you’re choosing to file with the best of the best. As ExpressTruckTax, ExpressTaxExempt, and ExpressIRSForms have proven, the team behind the Express e-filing line knows what we’re doing, and we can help get your first ACA return filed as easily and quickly as possible.

Our experience as IRS-authorized e-file providers has provided us with some ideas that help make quick and easy e-filing happen. When you sign up to e-file with ExpressACAForms, you automatically have access to all of these amazing features:

• Full-service ACA Filing: In other words, with the exception of you providing your ACA information then reviewing and approving your return, we take care of everything else (creating the forms, transmitting them to the IRS, checking for errors, etc.).
• Automatic TIN Verification: As ExpressACAForms generates your return based on your ACA information, it’s also double checking your data against IRS records to make sure the Taxpayer Identification Numbers (EINs, SSNs, etc.) in your forms match the person or business with whom they're associated.
• Bulk Upload: With ExpressACAForms, you upload all of your ACA data at once, exactly as you have it, whether that’s in an Excel spreadsheet or on completed IRS-created PDFs. Then sit back as the program puts together your 1094 and 1095 forms for you.
• ACA Corrections and Re-transmittals: If for any reason your return comes back rejected, ExpressACAForms will take you step by step through the process of fixing the errors and retransmitting your return as quickly as possible to keep you from incurring any IRS fines.
• Printable ACA Forms: Once your return has been transmitted to the IRS, you’ll have the option to print recipient copies of your completed 1095 forms to mail out, as well as any other forms from your return to keep for your records.

So what are you waiting for? Get started e-filing with ExpressACAForms today to see how easy it is! If you have any questions along the way, we’re here Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT at (704) 839-2270 and 24/7 at support@ExpressACAForms.com.

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