Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Treasury and Internal Revenue Service have extended some Affordable Care Act reporting deadlines to help employers meet the requirements, according to the Washington Post.
• Employers have two months beyond the the Feb. 1 deadline to give people forms for reporting on offers of health coverage/coverage provided. Also, deadlines to report this information to the IRS are extended by three months beyond the original Feb. 29 due date for paper filings and the March 31 date for electronic returns, according to the Post.
• The White House has repeatedly extended deadlines for implementation and insurance enrollment under the ACA, which has drawn criticism from ACA opponents, the Post reports.

Dive Insights

According to a brief from Lockton Companies, the delay is short-term. Thus, "it’s not like we asked Santa for a pony and then got one…it’s like we asked for a pony and got a really neat cat. We were surprised by and love the cat…but part of us still pines for the pony."

In addition, Lockton says the reporting delay generally does not affect employees and their tax returns, as the IRS has already said taxpayers are not required to attach Forms 1095- B or -C to their federal tax forms in order to prove compliance with the ACA’s individual mandate.

Lockton adds that the new deadlines have a caveat: no extensions are possible, though the IRS might change its mind in the future. Employers with extension requests pending (i.e., requests for an extension of the Feb. 1 deadline for providing Forms 1095-C to employees) will not have those requests granted. Finally, the IRS says it’s still prepared to receive ACA-related filings by the original due dates, and "encourages employers to prepare, file and distribute the forms as early as they can."