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You might scratch your head and wonder why a law that is intended to improve the quality of health care for U.S. citizens would penalize employers that are trying to do their part. The reason is simple: Since the value of health benefits is not taxable to employees, the more...

As the IRS puts it, “every person that provides minimum essential coverage to an individual during a calendar year must file an information return and a transmittal.” Health plan providers and self-insured employers are “persons,” in the eyes of the IRS....

Historically, companies that wanted their employees to be protected with health coverage, but didn’t want the hassle of having a company health plan, could simply give employees an amount of money sufficient to reimburse them for the cost of buying that coverage or some...

If you signed up for coverage through the ACA federal Health Insurance Marketplace last year, you should have received a statement in the mail in February from the Marketplace called a Form 1095-A. This statement includes important information you need in order to complete and...

Tax season is finally here. The deadline for calendar-year corporations to file a return (or an extension) is Monday, March 16. The deadline for individuals to file their income tax returns (or an extension) is Wednesday, April 15. As businesses and individuals start gathering...

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) established a number of so-called “market reform” restrictions on employer-provided group health plans, starting with plan years beginning in 2014. These restrictions generally apply to all employer-provided group health plans —...

Large employers have self-insured their health benefits for decades. In fact, 93 percent of employers with at least 5,000 employees were self-insured in 2012, according to a Kaiser Foundation survey. Compare this with just 15 percent of self-insured employers having fewer than...

Recently released IRS final regulations for the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) employer shared-responsibility provision provide some short-term relief for midsize and large employers. Under the ACA, the shared-responsibility provision (commonly referred to as “play-or-pay”)...

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), beginning in 2013, taxpayers with FICA wages over $200,000 per year ($250,000 for joint filers and $125,000 for married filing separately) had to pay an additional 0.9% Medicare tax on the excess earnings. Unlike regular Medicare taxes, the...