The gift that keeps on giving
With that in mind, we spoke with ADP vice president of strategic advisory services John Haslinger about what accountants should be telling their business clients to make sure theyre compliant.
The following seven questions should help make sure theyre on the right track.
(A text version of this story is available
1. Have they crossed the threshold?
2. Do you have the right data to make that calculation?
He and his team are seeing particular difficulties gathering data on unpaid leave, like jury duty and family medical leave, which can mean companies are misclassifying employees.
3. Are they covering enough employees?
And thats a hard figure miss offering coverage to even one employee over the 5 percent, and the company can be liable for a fine of $2,160 for every single employee.
4. Is the coverage affordable?
5. Can they prove it?
The IRS will likely hold the company responsible for proving that they did the right thing, Haslinger said, which will require that they have solid data to back up their claims.
6. Are their independent contractors really independent?
He suggested that companies have their legal departments or advisors look over all of their contractor relationships to make sure theyre appropriate.
7. Can they hit the new deadlines?
And companies that issue fewer than 250 1095-Cs will have to have their 1094-Cs into the IRS by the end of February; for those with more than 250, the 1094-Cs will be due by the end of March.