The Affordable Care Act (ACA) offers incentives and tax credits to small businesses; while many employers and employees won’t pay any additional taxes under the ACA, there is a requirement for employers with 50 or more full-time employees to offer health insurance or pay a penalty starting in 2016. 50 percent of Americans today depend on employer-sponsored health coverage, and it’s important that companies, regardless of size, are able to accurately meet the requirements for bookkeeping and filing with the government, especially with Affordable Care Act documentation.
Complying with the IRS on ACA Reporting
Certain employers will be required to begin reporting health coverage information to the IRS; these businesses will need to furnish a statement about health coverage to their employees each year, as well. This information will be used by the IRS to enforce the mandates – the ACA’s provisions of “shared responsibility” – and also to give premium tax credits to those employers.
Deadlines are just one aspect of ACA reporting that businesses must adhere to. For the 2015 calendar year, forms MUST be filed with the IRS no later than February 29, 2016 (or March 31, 2016 if filed electronically). It must be kept in mind, however, that employers must provide copies to employees by February 1, 2016. For more information on which forms must be filed by your company, click here.
These forms must be sent, along with W2s, as verification that an employer has offered insurance to employees, and that employees have accepted some form of insurance. Again – this IS an IRS-mandated form. If your company is required to report and send in ACA documentation, start gathering all data necessary to ensure that you meet applicable deadlines. There are stiff penalties that businesses may be subjected to if the deadline is missed: up to $250 per form, and up to $500 if forms are issued late to the employee as well as to the IRS.
How Harvest Can Help with ACA Reporting and Documentation
We at Harvest Technology Group have more than 15 years of experience in delivering premier enterprise content management solutions, and have provided these services to hundreds of businesses. We currently support more than 1,800 global clients and installations.
Harvest has the software to generate the forms that the IRS requires to be submitted for Affordable Care Act documentation and reporting. In addition, we also are the exclusive North American provider of Content360°, which is the ideal solution for storing and keeping all of these forms. Content360° is also built entirely on SharePoint, allowing our clients to store all forms, documents, and content in a single repository. Harvest Technology Group makes it easy, accurate, and efficient to remain in compliance with the IRS and its documentation requirements.
Harvest solutions can help your business generate the forms, file them, and keep them safely so that when deadlines for submission approach, your company is already prepared to comply. Risking stiff penalties and fees, frustration and confusion is not something your business can afford – contact us at Harvest to learn more about how our solutions can help your company with ACA documentation and reporting.