There’s a lot to be thankful for this time of year. You can be grateful for the things you have, but you can also give a nod of gratitude to the problems you don’t have – like costly ACA compliance issues. Here are 10 ACA mistakes you’ll be especially thankful to avoid.

  • Fowl Play #1: Not distributing Form 1095 to covered employees. If you avoid this mistake, you’ll be grateful you don’t have to pay a hefty fee of $260 per form.
  • Fowl Play #2: Forgetting to file Forms 1095 AND 1094 with the IRS on time. By avoiding this compliance mistake, you’ll have up to $3,218,500 – the annual penalty cap – to be thankful for.
  • Fowl Play #3: Not filing corrections. If submissions are rejected, you have to file a correction electronically. If you avoid the mistake of forgetting this, you can be grateful for the $50 to $100 per form you’ve saved in penalties.
  • Fowl Play #4: Miscalculating health coverage affordability. Determining whether a plan meets the ACA’s requirements for minimum value and affordability takes some careful calculations, but if you get it wrong, employees could turn to the Marketplace, and you could face penalties. You’ll be thankful you did the math.
  • Fowl Play #5: Not tracking full-time status. Under the ACA, employees who work at least 30 hours per week or 130 hours per month are considered full time. You need to know who works full time to determine your obligations, so you’ll be grateful you’ve tracked this information.
  • Fowl Play #6: Not testing benefit plans for nondiscrimination. If your plan favors key employees and highly compensated employees, it can lose its tax-favored status. You’ll be grateful you’ve completed necessary testing and made any adjustments to avoid this.
  • Fowl Play #7: Missing deadlines. There are a lot of due dates to remember. If you keep track of them, you’ll be thankful you’ve avoided some massive headaches and expensive late penalties.
  • Fowl Play #8: Forgetting about other regulations. When you’re busy trying to figure out ACA compliance issues, it’s easy to forget about other regulations – like filing Form 5500 as required under ERISA. You’ll be grateful you remembered everything – and for avoiding a penalty that’s charged every day it’s delayed.
  • Fowl Play #9: Thinking you don’t have to comply. If you think the ACA is dead and compliance doesn’t matter anymore, you’re in for a rude awakening. The penalty for intentional failure to file Forms 1094 and 1095 is $520 per form, with no cap. This is a fee you’ll be thankful to avoid.
  • Fowl Play #10: Wasting time. Compliance is important, but so is your time. By using innovative software solutions, you can avoid compliance mistakes while saving time – giving you more time to spend on the other things your grateful for this year.

Thankfully, compliance is easy with Travisoft’s Cheat Sheet and Total ACA Solution. Also, download our Fowl Play Flier now and share it with your team.