W-2 Reporting for 2012 & 2013

As we move closer to the end of tax year 2012 and the beginning of 2013, you may have questions regarding whether or not your company must comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement for reporting the cost of employer-provided health care coverage on their W-2 forms.

Legacy Benefits & Insurance Services' goal is to keep you updated on health reform concerns. Here is a summary of the current Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance regarding W-2 reporting:

IRS transitional relief provides that only employers issuing 250 or more W-2s are required to report the cost of employer-provided health care coverage on their W-2s for tax year 2012.

This information reported in box 12 of the W-2s is for informational purposes only.

This relief applies to future calendar years until the IRS publishes additional guidance. To date, the IRS has issued no additional guidance for 2013.

Any IRS guidance that expands the reporting requirements will apply only to calendar years that start at least six months after they issue the new guidance.

To save you valuable time we have gathered these helpful resources:

1. Link to IRS website information on W-2 Reporting of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage
2. IRS Notice 2012-9: Interim Guidance on Informational Reporting to Employees of the Cost of Their Group Health Insurance Coverage
3. 2012 General Instructions for W-2 and W-3
4. Copy of 2012 W-2

 Information provide by the Word & Brown General Agency.