The IRS continues to make progress implementing key provisions of the Affordable Care Act, but it could expand the use of employer-provided health care information to ensure employer, health insurer, and taxpayer compliance the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has said.
The agency’s implementation plan for a section of the law requiring the inclusion of employer health coverage on Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, does not address how the IRS will use the information or how the IRS will ensure employer compliance with this information reporting section, TIGTA said.
It said the creation of separate implementation plans and the assignment of responsibility to different offices may result in the IRS not evaluating these provisions collectively to ensure that it is requesting all the information needed to effectively verify employer, insurance provider, and individual compliance with the act.
The IRS agreed with recommendations to update the implementation plan for Section 9002 to identify the actions needed to verify that employers are accurately reporting the total dollar value of health insurance coverage provided to an employee.
It also agreed to ensure that all information necessary is requested from third parties and processes are developed to use the information effectively, and said it updated its compliance plan to verify reporting compliance and stated that executive oversight ensures planning for the act’s provisions is coordinated.
