by Amy M. Gordon, Joanna C. Kerpen and Susan M. Nash
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 mandated that employers report the aggregate cost of applicable employer-sponsored coverage on Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, beginning January 1, 2011. On October 12, 2010, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2010-69, which provides interim relief to employers with respect to this reporting requirement. Thus this notice makes such reporting for 2011 voluntary versus mandatory. Employers who choose not to report the aggregate cost of applicable employer-sponsored coverage on Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, beginning January 1, 2011, will not be subject to any penalties for failure to meet such requirements. The U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS anticipate issuing guidance on the new Form W-2 reporting requirement before the end of the 2010 calendar year. If an employer does decide to report applicable employer-sponsored coverage on Form W-2, the IRS has also released a draft Form W-2 with some instructions.
