The IRS just provided some welcome news to employers and insurers still trying to comply with the ACA’s reporting requirements.
On its website, the IRS announced that the ACA Information Return system (AIR) has remained up and running after the June 30 deadline for employers to submit their ACA filings.
Employers filing at least 250 returns had to file those returns with the IRS electronically by June 30, 2016. And those filing fewer than 250, who are paper filing, had to do so by May 31.
The IRS said employers that weren’t able to submit all of the required ACA information returns by either the June 30 or May 31 deadlines can and should still complete the filing of their returns.
Some other noteworthy points from the IRS:
- Employers can still complete a required system test after June 30, if they haven’t already done so.
- If any of your transmissions or submissions were rejected by the AIR system, you have 60 days from the date of rejection to submit a replacement filing and have the rejected submission treated as having been filed on time.
- If you received an “Accepted with Errors” messages, you may continue to submit corrections after June 30.
Potential penalties
Employers that missed the filing deadlines can be fined up to $250 per return not timely submitted. The total penalties for a calendar year assessed to a single employer cannot exceed $3,000,000.
But like with many ACA penalties, the IRS said that it won’t impose penalties if firms can prove they made a good faith effort to comply with the 2015 reporting regs and made legitimate efforts to complete their required registration with the AIR system. To avoid penalties employers must also be able to show that they made good faith efforts to complete their filing as soon as possible after the deadline.
Plus, filers that are assessed penalties may still meet the criteria for a reasonable cause wavier from the penalties.
But filed forms classified simply as “untimely” won’t meet the good-faith requirement, the IRS said.
Info: Here’s HR Morning’s plain-English breakdown of the ACA reporting requirements.
