Extension and Penalty Relief for 1095-B and 1095-C Statements

Statement Deadline Extended

IRS Notice 2020-76 extends the due date for furnishing the 2020 Form 1095-B and Form 1095-C statements to individuals, from January 31, 2021, to March 2, 2021.

Because of this automatic extension, employers will not receive an additional extension of time for furnishing these statements if they submit Form 8809 (Application for Extension of Time To File Information Returns).

Filing Deadline Remains the Same

Employers should note that the notice does not extend the due date for filing Forms 1094/1095-B and 1094/1095-C with the IRS. These remain due on or before February 28, 2021 (March 31, 2021 if filing electronically).

However, employers may receive an automatic 30-day extension of time to file these forms with the IRS by submitting Form 8809 on or before the due date for filing the forms.

For reference purposes, these reporting requirements are described in Sections 6055 and 6056 of the IRS Code and were added by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

Penalty Relief for Furnishing Form 1095-B to Individuals

Because the individual shared responsibility payment is zero in 2020, individuals do not need the information on Form 1095-B to determine their federal tax liability. Therefore, the IRS will not assess a penalty for failing to furnish a Form 1095-B to responsible individuals if the employer does the following:

• Posts a prominent notice on its website stating that individuals may request a copy of their 2020 form. The notice must include an email address and a physical address where the request may be sent along with a telephone number individuals can call with any questions.
• Furnishes a 2020 Form 1095-B to any responsible individual within 30 days of the date a request is received. Note that these forms may generally be provided electronically if the individual provides his or her consent.

It gets slightly more complicated for applicable large employers (ALEs) who add the 1095-B information to Part III of the Form 1095-C rather than complete a separate Form 1095-B. In this case, the penalty relief described above only applies when the Form 1095-C (including Part III) is provided to an individual who is not a full-time employee for any month of 2020.

End of Good Faith Relief

The IRS signaled that this notice provides the final extension of penalty relief for employers that report incorrect or incomplete information but can show they made a good-faith effort to comply with the reporting requirements.

Future Relief in Question

This IRS also indicated that it received very few responses last year when it asked about the need for future relief and changes to the reporting requirements. Employers who wish to comment about future changes are encouraged to do so and may send those comments electronically by typing “IRS-2020-0037” in the search field on the regulations.gov homepage or by mail to the address listed at the end of the notice.