If you need more time to collect employee data for your Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare reporting this year, you’re in luck.

The IRS has announced it is extending one of the ACA 2016 due dates. Covered businesses now have until March 2, 2017, to supply employees with the 2016 Form 1095-C. The previous date was January 31.

Though this deadline has changed, the other filing requirements remain the same. Specifically, businesses still have until:

• February 28, 2017, to file form 1095-C (and corresponding transmittal form 1094-C) with the IRS if submitting a paper form. (Oddly, this date is now earlier than the form distribution deadline — a reason to consider e-filing this year.)
• March 31, 2017, to file form 1095-C (and corresponding transmittal form 1094-C) to the IRS if filing electronically.

These dates are the same for health insurance companies completing 1095-B forms.

This extension is good news for affected businesses — typically those with 50 or more full-time and/or full-time-equivalent employees. The new date gives employers an extra month of breathing room to complete and distribute recipient copies of the ACA form 1095-C.

In addition, the IRS stated it will provide “transitional good-faith relief” from penalties: If an employer has made a good-faith effort to comply with the ACA requirements, penalties for incorrect forms may be waived.