Affordable Care Act mandates W-2 reporting of healthcare costs

The recently passed Affordable Care Act (also known as “Obamacare”) legislation contains many  legal and reporting changes that will impact employers as well as employees. One such item is the requirement for some employers to report the cost of employer-sponsored group health insurance.

If you’re an employer who generated 250 or more W-2’s in 2011, you must begin reporting the cost to each employee in Box 12, code DD beginning with the 2012 W-2. Smaller employers who had fewer than 250 W-2’s in 2011 do not have to comply in 2012, but may do so voluntarily.

It’s important to remember that the amount reported should include both employer and employee-costs for the healthcare coverage. This is done to provide employees with a complete cost of the healthcare.

To get more details directly from the IRS along with an informative chart that details exactly which coverage types must be reported, click here.