Employers working through the detailed reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) recently received some good news: more time to comply with the upcoming deadlines.

December 28, 2015, the IRS issued Notice 2016-4, which extended the deadlines for reporting health care coverage to employees/recipients and the IRS through forms 1095-B and 1095-C (and 1094-B and 1094-C transmittals). Prior to this announcement, this year’s schedule for filing the applicable forms was the same as 1099s and W-2s.

The IRS Pushed Back the Deadlines as Follows:

While this is a welcome announcement for many employers, please be aware that this is a one-time extension for this year’s tax-filing season only. You don’t have to make a formal request from the IRS (or submit any other documentation to take advantage of the extension), but you are expected to comply with the deadlines. The IRS may not impose penalties for filing incomplete or incorrect information only if you’ve made a good faith effort to comply. This means doing everything possible to prepare, distribute and file the necessary ACA forms as quickly and accurately as possible.

Plus, the first deadline – distributing forms to employees/recipients – is fast approaching. To complete 1095 forms and furnish them by March 31st, you’ll need to review employee hours from the preceding year, compile specific employee and healthcare coverage data, and determine which forms to fill out based on your company size and whether you’re insured or self-insured.