IRS Providing Relief for 2011 W-2 Health Care Cost Reporting
IRS Provides Interim Relief with Respect to Form W-2 Reporting of the Cost of Coverage of Group Health Insurance Under Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
The IRS has released Notice 2010-69 (attached) which provides interim relief for reporting the cost of coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan on 2011 W-2s. Specifically, this notice provides that reporting the cost of such coverage will not be mandatory for W-2s issued for 2011.
The Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that this relief is appropriate to provide employers with additional time to make any necessary changes to their payroll systems or procedures in preparation for compliance with the reporting requirement.
Employers will not be subject to any penalties for failure to report the aggregate cost of employer-sponsored coverage on W-2s issued for 2011. The Treasury Department and the IRS anticipate issuing guidance on the reporting requirement before the end of 2010.
The IRS also released a draft Form W-2 for 2011 (attached) that includes the codes employers may use to report the cost of coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan.
As more information and guidance becomes available on this and other PPACA provisions, we will continue to keep our members informed. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.