Health Care Reform Part 3
Today is the third installment of issues covering health care reform legislation and related tax changes. The topic today is the employer mandate.
Last week the Treasury Department announced that this key provision of health care reform will be delayed. The employer mandate, which was supposed to be effective beginning on January 1, 2014, will now be effective on January 1, 2015.
However this delay does not change other provisions of the law including the new insurance exchanges and the requirement that individuals purchase health insurance. We will address those topics in the coming weeks.
Here’s a very brief overview of which employers may be subject to the employer mandate.
The employer mandate will only apply to a large employer. This is a business that employed an average of at least 50 full-time employees on business days during the preceding calendar year.
To determine if an employer is an applicable large employer, you have to look at the number of full-time equivalent employees. This is also determined based on the hours of service of employees who are not full-time.
A full-time employee for any month is an employee who works on average at least 30 hours of service per week. Thus, to be a large employer subject to the employer mandate, an employer must have at least 50 full-time employees or a combination of full-time and part-time employees that equals at least 50.
This change in the effective date now makes this provision effective after next year’s congressional elections even though the lookback window will now be calendar year 2014.
Disclaimer: The items included in the Tax Tip Tuesday Video Blog are informational only and are not meant as tax advice. Consult with your tax advisor to determine how any item applies to your situation. IRS Circular 230 disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any U.S. federal tax advise contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.
