The IRS recently released a letter confirming that they will continue to enforce the employer mandate.
The letter was in response to Senator Collins’ inquiry asking if the IRS would consider waiving or decreasing employer mandate penalties due to hardships or other factors, and whether the IRS might be willing to extend transition relief for employers with less than 100 employees
The IRS responded by saying that the law doesn’t allow for a waiver of employer mandate penalties, and that transition relief ended in 2017.
In addition, the letter explains that President Trump’s Jan 2017 executive order directing federal agencies to relax regulatory burden imposed by the ACA does not affect the employer mandate. Instead, the IRS confirmed the ACA is still in force unless Congress votes to change current legislation.
Thus, employers subject to the employer mandate (applicable large employers) must ensure they offer sufficient coverage to full-time employees, keep records of offers of coverage and correctly complete and report on Forms 1094/1095-C.