Well,*now* we know what's in it!
Posted on 08/31/2015 7:19:00 AM PDT by MarvinStinson
IRS drops a bomb on small employers
» Annual tax would be $36,500 per worker for noncompliance with Obamacare
Employers with fewer than 50 employees were promised a break by not having to provide group health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
But now the IRS has served notice that under the rule that has been in effect since July 1 such employers are subject to $100 per worker per day excise tax if they help their employees with their health-care costs.
That could amount to a staggering $36,500 per worker annual tax.
“We were told over and over during the Obamacare discussions that if you had less than 50 employees there’s no requirement to provide coverage, so you don’t have to worry about any cost factor,” said Ron Aldridge, Mississippi director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses.
There are about 2,800 Mississippi members in the NFIB and “most of them for sure” have fewer than 50 employees, Aldridge said.
About one in seven of the employers reimburse their employees for medical expenses, Aldridge said.
If a company has five employees, the total tax would be $182,500. A “large” employer with 50 employees that did not provide insurance in compliance with the Affordable Care Act, would be subject to $2,000 per employee, with the first 30 employees exempt, for a total of $40,000, Aldridge said.
The NFIB is backing two measures that have introduced in Congress that would address the situation, he said.
The Mississippi Department of Insurance said in a prepared statement that if the small employer helps employees by paying their premiums, reimbursing medical expenses or raising salaries to compensate for policies bought by the individuals, the company is considered to be in violation of IRS Code Section 4980D.
A statement from the IRS to the Mississippi Business Journal stated that “these employer payment plans are considered to be group health plans subject to the market reforms [under the ACA], including the prohibition on annual limits for essential health benefits and the requirement to provide certain preventive care without cost sharing.”
The Mississippi Insurance Department said: “The rule appears nowhere in the Affordable Care Act but was developed by the Obama administration’s regulation writers at the IRS.”
“The rule punishes small businesses for providing the only health insurance support many can afford – a contribution to help employees pay premiums for their individual or family policies or to help finance direct payments for medical services,” the department said.
The IRS issue comes at a time when the fate of the state-run insurance exchange for small businesses, called One, Mississippi, is uncertain, Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said in an interview.
“One, Mississippi has got to be sustainable,” Chaney said. The potential problem is that Aetna is seeking to buy Humana, which is one of the two insurers in One, Mississippi, he said. “If they buy Humana, they may pull out of the state,” leaving only United Healthcare in the pool. If that happens, there is a “distinct possibility” that the state will not be able to find a replacement.
“I cannot see the state of Mississippi putting any money into” the pool “and, politically, I’m not certain that the Legislature will let us put any money into it.” The pool has been propped up by federal grants, Chaney said.
State and federal regulators will meet this week in Chicago to talk with Aetna and Humana. While the state officials will have no official say, the federal regulators will hear their comments, Chaney said.
Aldridge’s take: “Something needs to be done quickly before our No. 1 job creators are left holding the bag and are put out of business.”
All to drive small companies out of business, drive unemployment higher, create many more government dependent people, push toward another depression, aid in the destruction of the democratic republic of the United States, and push toward the ultimate goal of a socialist dictatorship....
Always the same object - to push the populace into dependence on government.
“...pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism”
Does that mean you can't pay employees their wages??? /sarc
raising salaries to compensate for policies —
Well, the new minimum wage $15, is a ‘living wage’, to cover the increasing costs of living.
A health insurance policy is a cost of living (not optionsl).
So ... paying the new minimum wage is a violation under this non-law IRS interpretation, right?
Everything this government says is a lie.
They had no right to do this, but nothing will ever happen to change it, because have of Americans have their heads up their anal exit passageways, and the republicans are useless wimps.
I sent your question to Timothy Geithner.
He said he is working hard on his income tax right now but will get back to me.
He did suggest that I get in touch with Charles Rangel.
Starve the beast.
Do you really think there are any other options?
GOPe will never never ever repeal Obalacare, they never had any intension’s of doing so.
Conservatives = useful idiots..........don’t think so? What are we currently doing besides cheering on a Trump Circus?
There is only one party. The sooner we accept that the sooner we can look for real options.
The only difference in politicians is the degree of corruption and the degree of dirt they have on one another.
Does anyone else receive the emails from the GOP? I encourage you to get on their list. You will see there is no difference between them and the DNC except the players names.
RNC vs DNC nothing more than a struggle for power.
Gee, no wonder no one in Congress read or even attempted to understand it.
The fine is for giving employees tax free money on the side to buy insurance on their own..
Fresh meat for both Trump & Walker.
The entire administration of Obama for it’s entire existence is downright EVIL.
So much for ‘Transparence”.
We all must have a different dictionary than the Democrats & Sebelius.
“I’m not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president.”
—Hillary Clinton commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents.
Where is there an organized movement to ignore Obamacare? What name does it go by and how do I join?
All Part of The Plan™.
Good question.
The not-so-fine print also said: raising wages to help pay for the employee’s health costs.
That’s what triggered my cynical brain.
Wow, reading this article made my eyes bleed..but, I have an idea! Let’s all start calling all taxes “FINES.” Justice Roberts can call fines taxes but we can call taxes fines if the words can be so bastardized.
Stop paying fines! Property fines, income fines, sales fines.
All are a penalty for owning property or earning and spending money. Stop the madness.
The article wasn’t very well written. One would think they would explain it with accurate details.
Well,*now* we know what's in it!
That was the plan.
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