Here at Health New England, we know that many employers and brokers have questions about some of the details of the Play or Pay rules. Recently, I came across a recounting of some questions and answers that were posed by the American Bar Association’s Section on Taxation (“Taxation Section”) to the IRS at an oral presentation in May 2014. The questions were about the following topics:
• 130 Hours Per Month Equivalency
• Determining Whether a New Employee is a Variable Hour Employee
• Length of the Initial and Standard Measuring Period
• Monthly Measurement Method Full-time Employee First Otherwise Eligible
• Crediting Hours of Service
• Monthly Measurement Method

The Taxation Section posed a question and presented a “Proposed Response.” The IRS then gave its response, which was different from the Taxation Section’s Proposed Response in all cases. This report is not official guidance from the IRS, but the questions were submitted to the IRS in advance. The report of the oral presentation can be found at: http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/employee_benefits/2014_irs_qa.authcheckdam.pdf.

The questions on these topics are numbered 24-29 and begin on page 16 of the report, or you can search on the term “4980H.”