Some businesses may have suffered from wishful thinking when the legislation to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was proposed by Speaker Ryan and trumpeted by Republican leaders in Congress.
President Trump’s support for the legislation may have provided those businesses with hope that they might not have to continue filing employee healthcare data with the IRS.
No such luck.
Now that it’s clear the ACA will remain the law of the land for the foreseeable future, businesses with 50 or more employees are expected to file ACA compliance information with the IRS. The electronic filing deadline for submitting 2016 employee healthcare data on IRS 1094 and 1095 schedules for the 2016 tax year is March 31. That’s right, it’s this week.
If for some reason your business cannot provide its ACA information by this week’s deadline, there is an option. You can request a 30-day extension.
A one-time 30-day automatic extension for electronic filing is available using IRS form 8809 if requested on or before the March 31 deadline. This form (Application for Extension of Time to File Information Returns) can be submitted through the IRS FIRE system. Submitting the extension request on paper via mail or fax also is accepted, although use of the FIRE system is encouraged by the IRS.
If you miss filing this extension request by March 31, you need to file your employee healthcare information with the IRS as quickly as possible to minimize your exposure to potential penalties.
Businesses failing to submit 2016 employee healthcare data by March 31 can face potential penalties under the ACA..The penalties for late filings and general ongoing non-compliance can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. A recent industry report projected that U.S. companies could face up to $31 billion in ACA penalties for non-compliance with ACA requirements for the 2016 tax reporting period.
Hopefully, your business is prepared to file its information by the March 31 deadline. If not, asking for the 30-day extension by that date is definitely your best option for avoiding hefty penalties from the IRS.
