IRS Guidance Regarding ACA Employer Information Reporting Requirements

As announced in our previous HR Law Talk blog post, the Paperwork Burden Reduction Act (PBRA) made important changes to employers' responsibilities to furnish information to employees under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As part of the changes, employers may now provide "clear, conspicuous, and accessible" notice that individuals may request their Form 1095-B or 1095-C and distribute a Form 1095 only to individuals who request a copy, rather than furnish a Form 1095 annually to each covered individual. Recently, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released additional guidance for employers, with more details about satisfying the notice requirement.

The new guidance borrows from an existing regulation that created an alternative manner of furnishing Forms 1095-B for certain reporting entities and expands this alternative method to employers furnishing Forms 1095-C. To comply with the requirements of the regulation, an employer's notice must be: