Zinser Benefit Service - Small Business Insurance
Individual Insurance, Group Insurance and Employee Benefits, small business insurance
Starting with the 2012 Tax Year, businesses that file more than 250 W-2’s will be required to disclose the cost of the employee’s medical insurance. Â All size businesses will start doing this with the 2013 tax year.
Please consult your Accountant about what other benefits may also be required to be reported.
This guide was published by United Health Care. Â It’s only suppose to be used as a guide.
Additionally, the release indicates that specialty coverage, if included with medical benefits, must be reported.
The guidance reaffirms that this is a reporting requirement only and does not impact employees’ taxable wages.
Questions and Answers:
Q: Â Are specialty products, if offered as one plan to an employee, included in the W-2 reporting requirement?
A:Â Â Â According to the latest guidance from the IRS, yes. If the products are embedded or provided together, the total must be reported.
Q:Â Â How do contingent premium groups report the value of health benefits under the W-2 reporting requirement?
A:   Please refer any customers with this question to their own tax and/or legal advisers as we do not provide tax advice. The latest information from the IRS related to the W-2 reporting requirement can be found at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-12-09.pdf and may provide additional guidance.
This piece of health care reform continues to change constantly. Â United Health Care released some news on this just this week –
“Employers will be responsible for reporting to employees the total cost of their group health benefit plan coverage on their W-2 forms under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The reporting requirements are expected to apply to the 2012 W-2 forms, which is information employers must report to employees in January 2013.
This requirement is informational only and does not mean that employer-provided coverage will become taxable. Employers filing fewer than 250 W-2 forms in 2011 will not be required to report the cost of coverage on any forms furnished to employees before January 2014.”
Stay tuned, I’m sure it will change again!