Affordable Care Act Transmittal Forms 1094-B and 1094-C

Did you know that there’s more to your Affordable Care Act return than just Form 1095-B or 1095-C? That’s right: your ACA forms must be sent with a transmittal return, either Form 1094-B or 1094-C, each year.

Form 1094-B
Submitted with Forms 1095-B is Form 1094-B, Transmittal of Health Coverage Information Returns. The majority of Form 1094-B consists of basic information about the filer, including name, EIN, and contact information. On Form 1094-B, the filer also needs to report the number of Forms 1095-B submitted with the transmittal form.

Form 1094-B also requires the filer’s signature, title, and date before it can be submitted with the complete ACA return.

Form 1094-C
Form 1094-C, Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Returns, which is submitted with 1095-C Forms, is a bit more complex than Form 1094-B. Because it requires more information, Form 1094-C is split into three parts:

• Part I: Applicable Large Employer Member (ALE Member)
• Part I includes all the basic information about the ALE whose ACA report this 1094-C belongs to, including the name, EIN, address, and person of contact.
• Lines 9-16 of Part I are filled out if the filer is a Designated Governmental Entity (DGE) filing on behalf of an employer. So in some instances, these lines will need to be left blank.
• On line 18 of Part I, the total number of 1095-C forms accompanying the 1094-C is included.
• And lastly, if this Form 1094-C is the authoritative transmittal for an ALE member in a group return, the box on line 19 should be checked. There can only be one authoritative transmittal filed for each employer.
• Part II: ALE Member Information
• In Part II of Form 1094-C, the filer will provide information on whether or not they’re a member of an Aggregated ALE Group. They’ll also need to include the total number of 1095-C forms filed by and/or on behalf of the ALE member and indicate if they apply for any Certifications of Eligibility.
• If the filer has multiple returns, they only need to fill out Part II on the authoritative transmittal Form 1094-C (as indicated by line 19).
• Part III: ALE Member Information - Monthly
• In Part III, filers indicate how many full-time employees and total employees they had each month of the year.
• Part IV: Other ALE Members of Aggregated ALE Group
• If the filer is a part of an Aggregated ALE Group and checked “Yes” on line 21 of Form 1094-C, they’ll need to complete Part IV.
• In Part IV, the filer lists the names and EINs of other ALE members of the Aggregated ALE Group.

Questions?
So there you have it: Forms 1094-B and 1094-C. If you have any further questions about these forms or how to e-file them, don’t hesitate to contact us here at ExpressACAForms! You can give us a call (704-839-2270) or send us a live chat Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. Can’t make it then? Just send us an email to support@ExpressACAForms.com and we’ll get back with you as soon as possible!

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Understanding ACA Form 1095-B

When we talk about the information returns associated with Affordable Care Act, we tend to get hung up on Form 1095-C. It makes sense: Form 1095-C is the form Applicable Large Employers file and they’re the “insurance providers” going through the most changes thanks to the ACA. (And “most change” tends to mean “most attention.”)

That’s why we’re taking this post to talk exclusively about Form 1095-B!

Purpose of the Form
Form 1095-B, Health Coverage, is used to report information to the IRS and taxpayers about the minimum essential coverage of health insurance provided by the filer.

And in case you need a reminder: minimum essential coverage (or MEC) is the least amount of coverage legally required for taxpayers to have each year. While it’s the individual taxpayer’s responsibility to make sure they have coverage that meets MEC, it’s also the responsibility of insurance providers to offer MEC plans as set by the ACA.

Who Needs to File Form 1095-B
Generally, every person that provides MEC to individuals during the calendar year must file Form 1095-B to report the coverage. This does exclude certain employers (ALEs) and government employers who are subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions and therefore must file Form 1095-C.

In other words, health insurance issuers and carriers for most health insurance coverage, including individual market coverage and insured coverage sponsored by employers, as well as small employers need to file Form 1095-B for each covered individual each year.

When to File
If you need to file Form 1095-B with the IRS, you must do so at the beginning of the year following the year you offered coverage. And how you plan to file determines when you’ll need to file.

If you’re sending in paper copies to the IRS, you must submit Form 1095-B, along with its transmittal form, Form 1094-B, by February 28 (or 29). If you plan to e-file, you have until March 31. Keep in mind that if your due date ends up falling on a weekend or legal holiday, the deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.

And speaking of “automatically extended,” you can get an automatic 30-day extension of time to file your 1095-B forms if you file Form 8809 with the IRS by your original deadline.

And How to File
The more traditional way to file your ACA return is to mail it in each year. While the IRS recommends everyone e-file, you really only have to if you have more than 250 forms to file. So if you’re planning for traditional, mail Form 1094-B and your 1095-B forms by your deadline to:

• Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, TX 73301
• If your principal business is in: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, or West Virginia
• Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Kansas City, MO 64999
• If your principal business is in: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, Washington, D.C., Wisconsin, or Wyoming

Of course, if you’re looking for a faster, easier, more secure way to file, then you should e-file with ExpressACAForms! With ExpressACAForms, you don’t have to fill out each individual form by hand before mailing it in, which can leave you susceptible to human error and at the mercy of the postal system. Instead, just upload the the ACA information you have using our bulk upload spreadsheet or one of your own, review the forms our program creates for you, and securely e-file them directly with the IRS.

If you have any other questions regarding Form 1095-B or e-filing your ACA return, give us a call! We’re always happy to help. We’re available at (704) 839-2270 and through live chat on our website Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m ET and we offer 24/7 customer assistance via email at support@ExpressACAForms.com!

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ACA Form 1095-C Updated for 2016 Filing

Even when it’s not filing season, the IRS makes sure to keep itself busy. Just last month, they released draft Forms 1094-C and 1095-C and published draft instructions for completing them for the 2016 tax year.

While these updates are just drafts, there are already a few changes between the forms you filled out for your 2015 ACA return and the ones you’ll complete for your 2016 return. These changes are likely to stick, however, and once the Forms 1094-C and 1095-C are finalized, they must be e-filed by March 31, 2017.


Form 1094-C Changes

• Box B of Line 22 is designated “Reserved.” The Qualifying Offer Method Transition Relief is not available for 2016.
• In Part III, column (b), “Section 4980H” was added before “Full-Time Employee Count for ALE Member.” This was included to remind filers that “full-time employee,” as defined by section 4980H, applies for purposes of this column. ALE Members may not use another definition of FTEs to complete this column.

Form 1095-C Changes
Underneath the title of Form 1095-C, the reminder, “Do not attach to your tax return. Keep for your records.” was added to inform recipients not to file Form 1095-C with their personal return.

Code Changes

• Code 1I on Form 1095-C, line 14, and Code 2I for line 16 are no longer applicable for the 2016 filing year.
• New codes for addressing conditional offers of spousal coverage, 1J and 1K, have been added for use on Form 1095-C, line 14, if applicable.

Transition Relief Changes
Only limited transition relief will continue for the 2016 tax year. Because several forms of transition relief were available to employers for the 2015 tax year only, references to these forms of relief have been removed from Forms 1094-C and 1095-C.

E-filing with ExpressACAForms
It’s never too early to set up your ACA e-filing account with ExpressACAForms! As an IRS-authorized e-file provider, we guarantee the most up-to-date and secure software in ACA filing. If you have any questions or need help getting started, just give us a call. Or send us an email! We’re happy to help any way we can!

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Are You Prepared for Next Year's ACA Changes?

Hey, there! Remember this past Affordable Care Act filing season? Got it? Good. Now forget everything you knew about ACA filing.

Well, not everything. The basics are still mostly the same, but there are a lot of changes coming with the 2016 filing season, which begins in January. For starters, one of the biggest:

Date Changes
That’s right: this year (and forevermore), you won’t have the first six months of the year to get your ACA return just right. The IRS, in an attempt to relieve some of the first-time ACA filing stress for filers and themselves, extended the actual ACA deadlines this past year. Next year, they’ll be back in their rightful places: January 31 (for the recipient forms), February 28 (for paper filers), and March 31 (for e-filers).

No More Leniency
The IRS was pretty generous last year; in addition to extending the deadlines, they also operated under a more lenient late-filing policy. No such luck this year. Last year, the policy was if you could prove you made good faith efforts to file on time, your late filing penalties would be forgiven. This year, it’s the same as every other IRS deadline: you don’t file on time, you pay the fine.

Penalties Are Going Up
The penalties for not providing (or not providing enough) insurance are going up as well. The IRS had a few other safety nets in place this year as far as insurance offers were concerned - only having to offer to 70% of your employees rather than 95%, for example, as well as other safe harbor reliefs. This year, those begin phasing out. Since the whole point of the ACA is to make sure every taxpaying American has access to good health insurance, the penalties stand to get more severe the longer Applicable Large Employers don’t provide coverage.

But You’ve Still Got ExpressACAForms
But the good news is you’ve still got us! One of the frontrunners in ACA e-filing for the 2015 tax year, ExpressACAForms helps make your ACA filing and compliance easier than ever. And we’re around all year too, not just during ACA season, to help answer any questions or get you started with ExpressACAForms.

Give us a call. We’re in the office Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET, and our phone number’s (704) 839-2270. We also offer live chat assistance while we’re in the office and 24/7 email support (support@ExpressACAForms.com) for when we’re not.

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Brush Up on Your ACA Knowledge

There’s no better time than the present to brush up on your ACA knowledge. Mostly because, at this present moment, you’ve come across the ExpressACAForms blog on the subject!

Listen, we figure you’re in one of three situations with your ACA filing: 1. You’re done with your 2015 filing and are trying to forget about 2016’s until it’s time to file 2016’s.; 2. You’re still making corrections and trying to complete your 2015 return.; or 3. You’re just blowing it off altogether.

In all of these situations, you stand to benefit from a little ACA know-how. That’s where we come in.

Below are a few tips about ACA filing that you’ll want to keep in mind - yes, even now, in late August. January will be here before we know it, and the filing period for ACA will be shorter than it was this year. So you’ll want to make sure you’re prepared by staying up-to-date on ACA info.

• For starters, to elaborate on our last point there, for the 2015 tax year, the IRS extended the due dates of ACA Forms 1094 and 1095 by two or more months. So far, for the 2016 tax year, they have no plans to do so, so your forms will have to be e-filed by March 31, three months earlier than this past year. Additionally, your recipient copies will need to be sent out by January 31, along with your 1099s and W-2s.
• Applicable Large Employers, those with 50 or more full-time employees, are still required to offer health insurance coverage to those employees. This coverage must meet the minimum essential coverage (MEC) requirements as stated by the ACA, and you’ll have to pay a penalty for each uncovered employee. This penalty is slated to increase each year from here on out, so you may want to set up a plan sooner rather than later.
• If you have more than 250 forms to file, you’re required by the IRS to e-file. You’ll need to make sure you have a system or program in place (like ExpressACAForms!) to handle getting your forms to the IRS.
• If you file late or not at all, the IRS is issuing penalties in the coming year. They were lenient this past year, forgiving late fees for those who could prove they made the effort to file on time. That won’t be their policy anymore, however, as we’re past the first year of filing.

And if you filed with ExpressACAForms last year, the good news is you’re already a few steps ahead! Since our program is online and cloud-based, rather than a software you have to download and update each year, all of your filing information is saved from year to year. So, when it’s time to file again, all you need to do is update any changes from the year and transmit your return. It’s that simple!


As always, if you have any further questions regarding ACA e-filing, feel free to give us a call! We’re in the office Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET, at (704) 839-2270 and on live chat through our website. We also offer 24/7 customer assistance through our email, support@ExpressACAForms.com.

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ExpressACAForms E-filing Features: Postal Mailing

When you plan to e-file your Affordable Care Act Return Forms 1094 and 1095, you probably don’t prepare for much mailing. After all, you’re set up to do everything online - why should you have to mail something out too?

Well, regardless of whether you file your ACA Forms with the IRS by paper or electronically, you do still have some mailing to do. Form 1095 (B and C) has to be mailed to your employees or coverage recipients as well as the IRS. And, starting in 2017, they have to be mailed out two months before your forms are due with the IRS.


Form 1095 Recipient Copies
If you’re an ALE (Applicable Large Employer) filing Form 1095-C for all the employees you offered and provided coverage for throughout the year, you have to send a copy of that form to each of your employees. Likewise, if you’re a healthcare coverage provider filing 1095-B Forms for your clients and your clients’ employees, you need to send a copy of Form 1095-B to each individual offered coverage.

Now pay attention because here’s the important part: these recipient copies of Form 1095-B and 1095-C have to be mailed out by January 31 of the year following the year you’re reporting. So the 1095 Forms for the 2016 tax year must be sent by January 31, 2016.

This past year everyone got a break when the deadline was extended to March 31. However, since individuals need their copy of Form 1095 to complete their personal taxes, the IRS has set it up so that, from now on, Form 1095 is sent out with their W-2s, 1099s, or any other tax documents.

Postal Mailing with ExpressACAForms
At ExpressACAForms, we want to make things simple for you. In fact, we bet you’re probably e-filing so you don’t have to deal with stacks and stacks of paper, right? That’s why ExpressACAForms offers postal mailing, an option where you select for us to send out your Form 1095 recipient copies for you, and all for about what you’d pay for postage yourself.

With the postal mailing feature, ExpressACAForms guarantees your forms are postmarked and mailed by the January deadline. In fact, they’re usually mailed by the next business day after you send in your request.

To set up your order, simply select the postal mailing option on your checkout screen after you’ve entered in all of your ACA filing information. Once you pay and transmit your forms to the IRS, we’ll be alerted that your forms are ready to be sent to your recipients. So, in that way, there’s another added bonus to the postal mailing feature: by utilizing it, your ACA filing with the IRS gets done two months ahead of schedule. Think of how much more you can get done with that extra time!

Questions?
If you have any questions about the postal mailing feature or e-filing your ACA return with ExpressACAForms, feel free to contact our wonderful support team! We’re US-based and in the offices all year long, not just during tax season. Give us a call at (704) 839-2270 or send us a live chat or email to support@ExpressACAForms.com, and we’ll be happy to help!

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The Adventures of Ace: Ace's Bar-B-Que

Welcome, welcome!

It’s a hot, sunny August day here in the land of ExpressACAForms, and you’re just in time for the bar-b-que Ace is throwing to celebrate (after taking some time for a little R&R, of course) the first ever ACA deadline!

“Ace sure does like throwing barbeques,” Doc said between bites. “He even got a new grill just for the occasion!”

“Well, Doc,” Ace replied, “it’s the perfect time! It’s still warm out, we’ve got a few weeks of summer left. Plus football season is right around the corner, so we’ll grill out a lot for tailga-”

“No need to convince me,” Doc interrupted. “Your burgers are doing a good enough job of that!”

“So, Ace,” an ACA filer and honored barbeque guest began. “Are we really done with 2015 ACA filing? I mean, there isn’t anything else we need to do, is there?”

“Unless you’re still working on any corrections, and as long as your forms have been accepted by the IRS, the 2015 ACA filing is over!” Ace replied amidst cheers.

“But don’t forget,” Ace continued as the clapping died down, “you can still access your ExpressACAForms accounts at any time during the year to go over any information to prep yourselves for next year. And my sidekicks work all year long, not just during tax season, so you can always call them if you need any assis-”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s great Ace,” Doc interrupted. “But, uhh, we’ve run out of ketchup. Could you be a pal and pop over to the supermarket?”

“Oh! Of course! Can’t have a barbeque without ketchup! In the meantime, if you need anything, call my sidekicks,” Ace began as he was taking off.

“Ace, I don’t think they’ll be able to help with barbecue-related things!” Doc called after him.

While we can’t guarantee we can help with your barbeque-related needs, we are here for your ACA ones! If you have any questions, give ExpressACAForms a call. We’re available Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET at (704) 839-2270 and through live chat through our website. We also offer 24/7 email assistance at support@ExpressACAForms.com.

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