What is Affordable Care Act (ACA) Filing?
The new Affordable Care Act Forms 1094 and 1095 are required to be filed beginning with the 2022 tax year. Anyone who provided at least the Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) of health insurance to individuals will need to file these forms. With ExpressIRSForms, you won't believe how easily you can e-file these new ACA forms. Read on to learn more!
ACA filing Requirements
IRS Form 1095-C
- Employee name, SSN, and address
- Employer name, EIN, address, and contact number
- Plan Start Month
- Offer of Coverage (Form 1095-C Codes)
- Amount of the employee's monthly premium
- Safe Harbor code, if applicable
- Names and SSNs/DOBs for dependents
IRS Form 1095-B
- Filer name, EIN, address, telephone number, and contact info
- Recipient name, SSN or DOB, and address
- Type of coverage offered by month
ACA Filing Checklist for 2023
- Gather the information needed to file forms for each of your recipients.
- Create your ExpressIRSForms account to quickly and easily e-file your forms.
- Enter your recipient information -- individually or use our bulk upload option!
- Transmit your returns to the IRS.
- Mail your recipient copies by March 4, 2024, or have us mail them for you!
E-Filing Your ACA Returns
The IRS recommends everyone e-file the ACA forms, but you're only required to if you have more than 10 forms to file. But the best way to file is with ExpressIRSForms, the first IRS-authorized e-filing service provider for the ACA forms. When you file electronically, not only are you less likely to make common errors that result in rejection, but you also get more time to file! Paper filers must have their forms to the IRS a month before e-filers do.
ACA Filing Deadlines
Normally, the ACA forms will follow the same deadlines as 1099s and W-2s: recipient copies will need to be sent by March 04; paper filers need to send their forms to the IRS by the last day of February; and e-filers will need to file with the IRS by March 31.
2023 Tax Deadline
However, for the 2022 filing year, the IRS has extended the deadlines. Recipient copies are now due by March 4, 2024. Paper filers need to file with the IRS by February 28, 2024, and e-filers need to file by April 01, 2024.
Learn more about Form 1095-C Deadline.
ACA Filing Penalties
For the 2023 tax year, the IRS is waiving penalties on ACA filings if you can prove that you made every effort to file your forms. If you willfully neglect to file your ACA forms, you could face penalties. Generally, the failure to comply penalty is $310 per form, up to $3,783,000 per year. The same penalties can be applied to recipient copies of forms that were neglected.
Who is exempt from filing Affordable Care Act tax forms?
Those not filing tax returns because their income is too low are automatically exempt from filing Affordable Care Act forms. However, there are some incentives for filing even if you don’t have to. If you had marketplace coverage and lost your source of income, you may be owed tax credits for the months you had coverage. You can also report exemptions due to income for the months you didn’t have coverage on the Health Coverage Exemptions form.
ACA Resources
ACA Forms 1095 and 1094
The Affordable Care Act forms are new information returns created by the IRS to make sure that health insurance providers and employers provide at least the Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) to their recipients and employees during the calendar year.
This is to help insurance providers and recipients remain compliant with the new healthcare laws.
ACA Compliance
In order to make sure employers and insurance providers, as well as individual taxpayers, comply with the new laws set in place by the Affordable Care Act, the IRS created Forms 1094-B / 1094-C and 1095-B / 1095-C, which must be reported on each year.
These forms help to ensure that all taxpayers are receiving at least the Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) of health insurance each year by reporting information on the coverage they receive.
E-file extension Form 8809
Extensions apply automatically to all health coverage information return issuers and are longer than the 30-day extensions that would otherwise be obtained by submitting Form 8809, Application for Extension of Time To File Information Returns. Therefore, the IRS will not process any previously requested extensions of these deadlines for 2016. The longer automatic extensions do not require a formal request using Form 8809 or other documentation.