The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has unveiled tentative reporting forms to be used by affected large employers who must begin offering health insurance to their employees beginning Jan. 1 or pay a penalty to the IRS.

Those companies with 100 or more employers will be subject to the shared responsibility provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) commencing on New Year’s Day 2015, meaning they must offer employee health insurance or be subject to a “shared responsibility” payment (in other words, a monetary penalty). Employers with 50-99 employees have an additional year, until Jan. 1, 2016, to comply.

All large employers (50-plus employees), however, must file reports by 2016 detailing how and whether they offered health insurance to their workforces in 2015.

Final IRS reporting forms won’t be available until the end of 2014, but details on the shared responsibility provision and reporting are available by clicking here.

For the full story on how the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) affects your business, no matter how large or small, please obtain a copy of our comprehensive and easy-to-read Affordable Care Act Compliance Kit.