As it did last year, the IRS has extended the deadline for furnishing Forms 1095-B and 1095-C to individuals by 30 days. This reprieve will allow employers, health insurers, and other plan sponsors to distribute the forms on or before March 2, 2018, rather than January 31, 2018.

The IRS also extends the good-faith transition relief for this Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting to the reports prepared for the 2017 year. This extension offers relief for incomplete and incorrect information supplied in Forms 1094 and 1095, where the reporting entity can show that it made good faith efforts to comply with the requirements. This relief does not apply where good faith is not exercised or where a reporting deadline is missed.

The new guidance does not extend the deadlines for submitting the forms, along with Forms 1094-C and 1094-B, to the IRS. Those deadlines remain February 28, 2018, for paper forms and April 2, 2018, for electronic filings. Those submitting paper forms should take note that the IRS filing deadline precedes the date for providing the forms to individuals.

Employers should also be prepared to respond to inquiries about coverage from employees who are filing their tax returns for 2017 early and may wish to keep in mind that the legislative repeal of the individual mandate under the ACA does not take effect until 2019.