Employers that provide coverage under the Affordable Care Act must disclose that they provide minimum essential protection to their employees by filing IRS Forms 1094 C and 1095 C.
It was previously the case that the IRS provided "good faith transition relief", which allowed businesses to avoid penalties for incorrect or inadvertently filed Form 1094-C and 1095-C filings.
Many people seek professional assistance to prevent ACA reporting penalties. As a failure to file Form 1095 will trigger a $250 penalty per return, with an annual cap of $3,000,000.
The policy states that a company can be exempted from penalties if it submits forms with incorrect or inexact information. This is done by proving to the IRS that it made a good-faith effort to comply with ACA regulations while supplying forms to individuals and submitting them the IRS
The ACA reporting period ended in 2020. This was the last time that the IRS granted relief in good conscience. Companies are more likely than not to make mistakes.
Even though the IRS sanctions are based on similar reasons, there is increased accountability for businesses to document their efforts to correct and eliminate errors in filings in order to avoid penalties. However, even though there is no protection offered by good faith relief, every filing error will not result in an automatic penalty.
Employers must show that the mismatch was not caused by mistakes or inattention to be eligible for this policy.
In the case of errors beyond the control of the employer, such as employees giving incorrect or false information, the IRS may waive penalties. Employers must take steps to ensure accuracy and correct errors.