No More Mister Nice Guy…No More “Good-Faith” Relief for ACA Reporting Requirements

by Becky Achten

The good news is that the deadline to furnish individuals with the Form 1095-C or Form 1095-B reporting health care coverage in 2021 has been extended to March 2, 2022. The bad news is that the days of good-faith relief are over. You better get them right this year!

Contrary to its stance taken in Notice 2020-76, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued proposed regulations to permanently extend the due date for providing the Form 1095-C (applicable to large employers) and the Form 1095-B (generally applicable to insurance carriers) to participants. Employers and insurers can take advantage of the extension for the 2021 reporting season before the regulations become final. This does not, however, change the deadline for filing the forms with the IRS, which remains February 28, 2022 for paper submissions and March 31, 2022 for electronic filings.

The proposed regulations do not address or further extend the good-faith relief for complying with the information-reporting requirements, for which the final extension was granted under Notice 2020-76. The good-faith relief applied to missing and inaccurate taxpayer identification numbers, dates of birth, as well as other information required on the statement (such as the applicable ACA coding). The penalties for inaccurate or incomplete tax reporting can be up to $560 per form. Considering forms are required for each full-time employee, the penalties could be substantial. Therefore, employers should take extra steps to ensure the data gathered regarding individuals and coverage offered in 2021 is accurate.