Pub. 6 2016-2017 Issue 2

O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G C O L O R A D A N S R E A L I Z E D R E A M S September • October 2016 9 Based in Fargo, ND, serving North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Colorado. Call me at 701.371.3355 Gary Keller • Commercial & ag participation loans • Bank stock & ownership loans • Bank building financing • Business & personal loans for bankers Partner with us. Together,let’s make it happen. Our correspondent bankers will get you clear answers and fast decisions. As your partner, we will help you enhance your customer relationships. As your bank grows, we’ll help you meet your needs. bellbanks.com Member FDIC bellbanks.com 13267 employee copies and March 31, 2017, for IRS electronic filing (February 28 if paper filing with the IRS). CMS Employer Notice Letters The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) states the Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) will begin sending notices to employers of individuals who enrolled in marketplace coverage and qualified for a premium tax credit in 2016, i.e., subsidized marketplace coverage. These notices are not junk mail and should be taken seriously; they’re intended to notify employers theymay be subject to an employer-shared responsibility penalty. Warning: Notices will be sent to the employer address provided by the employee who enrolled in subsidizedmarket- place coverage. Therefore, employers withmultiple locations should develop internal procedures to ensure these notices are sent to the correct individual within the organization. Notices Sent to ACA-Compliant Employers Since the marketplace doesn’t validate the legitimacy of an individual’s claim in real time, a notice doesn’t automatically mean the employer will be required to pay a penalty. If an employer receives a notice and doesn’t agree the employee was eligible for subsidized marketplace coverage, the em- ployer will have 90 days to appeal using an Employer Appeal Request Form. Upon successful appeal, the FFMwill send the employee a notice requesting to update his or her marketplace application. The notice also will explain that failure to do so may result in a tax liability to the employee. ACA Retaliation Rules Employers must keep in mind the ACA retaliation rules when developing a plan to deal with these notices. According to the retaliation rules, a company can’t discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee with respect to his or her compensation, terms, conditions or other privileges of employment because the employee (or an individual acting at the request of the employee) has received a credit under the ACA or reported any violation of, or any act or omission the employee reasonably believed to be a violation of the ACA. With this in mind, employers may want to consult outside legal counsel to help avoid the perception that their company procedures run afoul of the ACA retaliation rules. Contact your BKD advisor if you need help processing your ACA information returns or evaluating a plan of action for responding to 2016 CMS employer notices.  This article is for general information purposes only and is not to be considered as legal advice. This information was written by qualified, experienced BKD profes- sionals, but applying this information to your particular situation requires careful consideration of your specific facts and circumstances. Consult your BKD advisor or legal counsel before acting on any matter covered in this update. Article reprinted with permission from BKD, LLP, bkd.com. All rights reserved.