6055/6056 Reporting

[GoBro]

I haven’t seen this addressed anywhere, and I’m a little surprised. IRC section 6055/6056, as a result of ACA, requires reporting of health coverage. When the health coverage is provided under a single employer plan, is the cost to do this reporting an employer or plan cost? I think I know the answer; I just wanted to see if DOL, or anyone else for that matter, has addressed this question publicly. Thanks.

[Alonzo Church]

The question I have is "why are you asking"? To most of us practitioners, the idea of employer vs plan cost matters when you have a trust. If you don't have one -- it's an academic question.

 

[leevena]

On 8/7/2020 at 3:46 PM, GoBro said:

I haven’t seen this addressed anywhere, and I’m a little surprised. IRC section 6055/6056, as a result of ACA, requires reporting of health coverage. When the health coverage is provided under a single employer plan, is the cost to do this reporting an employer or plan cost? I think I know the answer; I just wanted to see if DOL, or anyone else for that matter, has addressed this question publicly. Thanks.

 

So, what is your answer?

 

[GoBro]

In the example, the single-employer plan uses a trust. The IRS refers to 6056 reporting under this scenario as the employer's responsibility. I have heard that some TPAs say this is a plan cost, others say it's an employer cost, which is where I fall based on the IRS regs. I was hoping someone could point me toward something more definitive from DOL regarding 6056 costs.

[acm_acm]

It seems like that since the coverage mandate is an employer mandate, everything resulting from that mandate should be an employer cost (except for the permissible level of employee cost sharing), and that would include the cost of reporting the coverage to the IRS.

[leevena]

The DOL allows expenses to be paid by; the employer, the plan, or both.  This should also be included in the plan documents.