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IRS Publishes 2019 ACA Reporting Forms and Due Dates

December 17, 2019

The IRS provided new guidance on ACA information reporting in Notice 2019-63. Employers must file the 2019 Forms 1094 and 1095 by March 31, 2020.
Alert

At a Glance

  • IRS has made available the 2019 Forms 1094-C, 1095-C and form instructions
  • Format, data fields and codes on the 2019 Forms 1094-C and 1095-C remain same as 2018 form
  • Form 1095-C, Part II “Plan Year Start Month” data field population continues to be an optional field for the 2019 form
  • IRS Filing Deadline for electronic filing is April 1, 2020
  • IRS has extended the deadline to furnish Form 1095-C to employees

Forms and Instructions

The IRS published the 2019 Forms 1094-C, 1095-C and form instructions. There are no significant changes to the Forms 1094-C and 1095-C; the format, data fields remain unchanged from 2018 and there are no changes to the codes used on Form 1095-C on Lines 14 and 16. The verbiage in the participant instructions on the Form 1095-C and the provider instructions in the 2019 Instructions for Forms 1094-C and 1095-C have some notable changes; however, these changes do not affect processing or filing either of the forms. Please see the “Notice 2019-63” section of this alert for details on these changes.

Furnishing and Filing Deadlines

Employers who file information returns electronically to the IRS must file the 2019 Forms 1094 and 1095 by March 31, 2020. If filing paper forms the deadline for the 2019 forms is February 28, 2020.

IRS Notice 2019-63 automatically extends the deadline for furnishing the 2019 Form 1095-C to employees. Employers subject to the ACA employer shared responsibility mandate must furnish a completed 2019 Form 1095-C to employees no later than March 2, 2020; this is an extension from the original January 31, 2020. Due to this automatic extension, the IRS will not grant additional time to furnish forms to employees.

Reporting Penalties

Failures to file correct information returns to the IRS or furnish correct statements to employees can result in significant penalties. The following penalties apply to 2019 tax year returns:

  • Failure to file a correct information return is $270 for each return failure, the total penalty for the calendar year not to exceed $3,339,000.
  • Failure to furnish a correct payee statement is $270 for each failure, the total penalty for the calendar year not to exceed $3,339,000.
    • However, there will be no penalty under certain circumstances if failure to furnish to individual enrolled in self-insured plans. See “Notice 2019-63” section of this alert.
  • Special rules apply to “intentional disregard” of the filing and furnishing requirements, which could increase the per statement and penalty totals.
  • No penalty will be assessed for incorrect or incomplete information returns if ALE can show “good-faith” efforts to comply with reporting requirements. See “Notice 2019-63” section of this alert.
  • Waivers from penalties may be available if due to a reasonable cause and not willful neglect.

Notice 2019-63

The IRS provided new guidance on ACA information reporting earlier this month in Notice 2019-63. This guidance is reflected in the 2019 1095-C participant instructions and the 2019 Instructions for Forms 1094-C and 1095-C. The notice provides guidance for the following revisions for the 2019 ACA information reporting requirements:

  • Extends the deadline to furnish Form 1095-C to employees to March 2, 2020
  • Provides relief to ALE members with self-insured health plans for failure to furnish 1095-C to certain employees when the following conditions are met:
  1. Individual is not a full-time employee for any month in 2019
  2. The ALE prominently posts notification on company website that individuals may receive the 2019 1095-C upon request
  3. The ALE website provides email address and physical address to send request, as well as contact name and phone number individuals can call to ask questions, and
  4. The ALE must furnish the 2019 1095-C within 30 days of the individual’s request
  • Extends the “good faith relief” for filing and furnishing incorrect or incomplete forms

Nothing in the notice provides relief to ALE from filing forms 1094-C and 1095-C with the IRS.

Next Steps

Paylocity has taken into consideration the IRS furnishing extension, after evaluating the status of our ACA customers; we will proceed as follows:

  • We will continue to produce forms 1095-C in early January as we originally planned
  • However to provide flexibility, if our clients need to take advantage of the extension we are understanding of that and willing to reprint forms once all necessary updates have been made by the client.
  • We will accept reprint requests through February 14th, but encourage all of our clients to take care of this sooner rather than later.

Resources

The forms and instructions are available for viewing at the links below:

2019 Form 1094-C

2019 Form 1095-C

2019 Instructions for Forms 1094-C and 1095-C

IRS Notice 2019-63

 

Thank you for choosing Paylocity as your Payroll Tax and HCM partner. Should you have any questions please contact your Paylocity Account Manager.

 This information is provided as a courtesy, may change and is not intended as legal or tax guidance. Employers with questions or concerns outside the scope of a Payroll Service Provider are encouraged to seek the advice of a qualified CPA, Tax Attorney or Advisor.