The IRS released a CCM providing that an S corporation employee who was considered a 2-percent shareholder via the family attribution rules was entitled to deduct the cost of health insurance premiums paid by the S corporation and included in the employee’s income. Here, the S corporation paid the premium costs and included those amounts in the individual’s income, who was, in turn, entitled to the deduction. For more information on the tax treatment of S corporation health insurance, visit Tax Facts Online. Read More

The IRS released a PLR providing that a plan participant’s eligibility to obtain a loan from the employer (or a third party) to purchase shares under an employee stock purchase plan does not jeopardize the plan’s qualification under IRC Section 423(b). In this case, loan availability was premised on the fact that the loan could not violate the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, meaning that some participants may have been rendered ineligible to take out a loan to purchase employee shares through the plan. This PLR indicates the IRS’ view that provisions allowing purchase of shares via loans do not prevent qualification even if some employees are ineligible. For more information on the ownership of employer stock in an employer-sponsored plan, visit Tax Facts Online. Read More

Employers have recently begun receiving 226J letters detailing employer mandate compliance issues from the IRS with respect to the 2016 tax year. Importantly, employers must remember that the employer mandate continues in effect despite the repeal of the individual mandate and despite pending challenges to the ACA itself. An employer may receive a 226J letter with respect to two types of failures: failure to offer minimum essential coverage to at least 95% of full-time employees or failure to: (1) offer coverage to the employee, (2) provide affordable coverage or (3) offer coverage that satisfied minimum value requirements, in all cases if the FTE received a tax credit. Letter 226J should contain a deadline for a response, usually 30 days after the letter was issued (employers may request a 30-day extension). It is important to get expert advice when drafting the response, but issues to consider include whether the IRS was using the correct data (i.e., was a corrected Form 1094 filed with the IRS in 2016?), whether the plan was a calendar year plan (transition relief may apply) and whether the employer did, in fact, offer minimum coverage during each month. For more information on the employer mandate, visit Tax Facts Online. Read More