How to E-file Form 1095-C with ExpressIRSForms

Hello, and welcome to ExpressIRSForms! Today we’re going to take you step by step through the process of e-filing a Form 1095-C with ExpressIRSForms. If you’ve e-filed your 1099s or W-2s with us before, things may look a little familiar. If you’re just stopping by for the first time, sit back, relax, and see how easy it is to e-file with ExpressIRSForms:

Getting Started
First things first, you’ll need to either create an account at www.ExpressIRSForms.com, or log into your existing one. Select either the “Register” or “Sign In” button on the top right corner of our home page, as it is applicable to you. Once you’ve logged into your account, you’ll see a button that says “Create New Forms.” Click this, and select the ACA forms option.

Employer Information
After you’ve indicated you’d like to e-file ACA forms, you’ll be taken to a screen to enter the employer information needed for your ACA return. Enter your employer by either selecting their name from the drop-down menu of your existing employers, or filling in the boxes to add a new employer. Once you’ve confirmed all of your information is correct, click Next.

Next, the program will determine if your employer is a member of an aggregated group, what type of insurance is sponsored by the employer, and the amount of full-time employees (FTEs) your business has by asking a few simple questions. Before completing the next part of your form, you’ll come to a checkpoint screen that summarizes the type of ACA form you’re filing along with your employer information. Click Continue to go to the next part.

Employer Offered Coverage
Now onto what the ACA forms are all about: your employees and the coverage you offered them. You’ll see on the first screen for this section that you have the option to add employees individually or bulk upload them using our Excel template or one of your own. Select which option you’d like, and either enter your employees’ data individually, or upload your ACA data spreadsheet.

Authoritative Transmittal
Once you’ve either entered or uploaded your employee data, click Next to indicate whether or not this return will be considered the Authoritative Transmittal for your complete ACA return. If this is your only transmittal, it automatically becomes the Authoritative Transmittal (AT).

After indicating the AT, the program will ask about any transition relief your organization or business qualified for during the tax period. The next pages will ask you to confirm you offered minimum essential coverage (MEC) throughout the year and your total number of FTEs as well as total number of employees overall.

Summary
Lastly, you’ll come to your summary screen. Look over everything to make sure your employer and employee info is entered correctly and click Review. The program then performs one last error check to make sure your return is free of any obvious errors before it’s transmitted to the IRS. If there are no errors, just click through to add your payment information for the one-time transmittal fee, and transmit your return to the IRS.

See, wasn’t that simple?

If you have any questions about e-filing with ExpressIRSForms, give us a call! We’re available Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT, at (704) 684-4751. We also provide 24/7 email assistance at support@ExpressIRSForms.com.



Looking for something a little less hands on? Try ExpressACAForms, our full-service ACA e-filing solution!

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Employer Shared Responsibility FAQs, Part 2

And we’re back! Let’s jump right into part two of our Employer Shared Responsibility FAQs:


Are companies with employees working outside the US subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions?
Typically, for determining whether or not you’re an ALE (Applicable Large Employer), you’ll only take into account the work performed in the United States. In other words, if a foreign employer has a large workforce worldwide but doesn’t have at least 50 workers in the US, they wouldn’t be subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions.

Are companies that employ US citizens working abroad subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions?
If you employ US citizens abroad, you’d typically only be subject to Employer Shared Responsibility provisions if you have at least 50 FT employees performing work in the US. Generally, US citizens working only abroad will not be taken into consideration when determining ALE status.

How does an employer that wasn’t in existence throughout the preceding calendar year determine if it employs enough people to be subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions?
If your business wasn’t in existence any day in the previous calendar year, you’d only be considered an ALE (and therefore need to file) if in the current year you’re expected to hire/employ an average of 50 or more full-time employees. To determine next year’s status (a.k.a. the year after the first year your business was in existence), you’ll use the same general rules as everyone else: counting up your full-time employees to determine if there are more than 50 of them.

If two or more companies have a common owner (or are otherwise related), are they combined to determine whether they employ enough people to be subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions?
Yes, according to Section 4980H, in order to determine ALE status, you would need to combine the number of employees for any groups with a common owner, or that are otherwise related. If the combined total is more than 50 full-time employees, each employer is subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions.

Do the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions apply to employers in states where a federally-facilitated exchange (or Marketplace) has been established on behalf of the state?
Yes. As an ALE, you’re subject to an Employer Shared Responsibility payment if at least one (1) of your FT employees receives a premium tax credit, which is only available to eligible individuals who receive coverage through a Marketplace.


So now that your questions have been answered, are you ready to get started e-filing your ACA return? Just log into your ExpressIRSForms account to create your forms, or let us do it for you over at ExpressACAForms!

Didn’t see your question in either of our posts? Just reach out to our friendly customer service center and we’ll try to help any way we can! We’re available by phone Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT, at (704) 684-4751 and by email 24/7 at support@ExpressIRSForms.com.

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Measurement Methods for Identifying Full-time Employees for ACA Purposes

One of the most important parts in ACA compliance is identifying which full-time employees to whom you’re required to make offers of health care coverage. First things first, however, you’ll need to determine if you’re an Applicable Large Employer (ALE). In other words, determine if you have 50 or more full-time employees. And keep in mind that the IRS considers 30+ hours a week (or 130 or more hours/month) to be full-time.

There are two methods for determining full-time employee status:

• The monthly measurement method
• The employer looks at each month the employee has worked individually to see which ones exceeded 130 hours of service
• The look-back measurement method
• The employee goes through a standard measurement period, where they work their usual hours as determined by the employee and employer upon hire.
• Then, the employer determines the employee’s full-time status based on the measurement period, during what is known as a stability period.
• Employers may not use the look-back method when determining ALE status, only for an individual employee’s full-time status.

When determining an employee’s status, an hour of service is considered to be each hour the employee is paid (or should be paid) for performing his/her duties as set by the employer, including the hours the employee is entitled to payment during which no duties are performed (like vacation pay, holiday pay, sick leave, disability, layoff period, jury duty, military duty, or leave of absence). For the purpose of the employer shared responsibility provisions, this does not include these hours of service/employees:

• Volunteer employees
• Students performing work-study
• Members of religious orders
• Compensation that isn’t US source income

You can find more information about totalling hours of employees in more nuanced categories, like adjunct faculty, those who work layover hours (like airline industry employees), and on-call employees, here.

If you have any questions regarding your ACA filing, you can give us a call at the ExpressIRSForms headquarters in Rock Hill, SC. We’re available by phone Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT at (704) 684-4751, and we also offer 24/7 email assistance at support@ExpressIRSForms.com.




Looking for something a little less hands on? Check out ExpressACAForms, our full-service ACA e-filing option.

Read More »