The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) July 11 released guidance on the one-year delay of the employer shared responsibility provisions (or employer mandate) and information reporting requirements in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The delay was originally announced July 2 by the Treasury Department in a blog post. 

The IRS guidance includes Q&As discussing the transition relief for 2014. Both the information reporting and the employer mandate will be fully effective for 2015.  Please note the transition relief for the information reporting and employer mandate has no effect on the effective date or application of other PPACA provisions.

On July 9, ABC sent a letter advocating for full repeal of the employer mandate in response to a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearing titled, “Delay of the Employer Mandate.” 

“It is important to note the employer mandate tax penalties are only delayed—the employer mandate provision is not repealed,” ABC wrote. “The increased costs related to this onerous mandate are still of significant concern to ABC members.”

ABC also offered its support for the American Job Protection Act (H.R. 903), which would repeal the employer mandate provision in PPACA and protect existing jobs by removing some of the uncertainty facing employers and helping America’s job creators get back to work.

In response to the employer mandate delay, Washington Council Ernst and Young updated their summary of employer requirements in the health care law, which can be accessed on the Academy for Constuction Ethics, Compliance and Best Practices.