Louisiana Association of Business and Industry President Stephen Waguespack says there was a clear takeaway from a recent presentation by health care economist Michael Bertaut of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana.
“Employers must do everything they can to prepare in 2015,” says Waguespack in a new column published on the LABI website.
Waguespack notes that Bertaut, who was among a panel of speakers at LABI’s “Business Solutions Beyond Reform” to help businesses prepare for Affordable Care Act implementation, repeatedly hammered home the importance of being aware of the next phase of implementation that begins next year. If you’re not prepared, Waguespack says, you’re in danger of falling into what he calls an “audit trap.”
“Next year, the trap gets set so that in 2016 the IRS auditors can come knocking on the door of all these trapped employers looking to assess big fines and penalties across the country,” Waguespack warns. “As a result, businesses across Louisiana are starting to ask themselves some important questions to prepare for this audit trap.”
Among the most important questions business owners need to square away before next year, Waguespack says, are: Is your business considered a small or large employer in the eyes of the IRS? Does your business qualify for transitional relief from the new mandates and regulations? And what fines and penalties will your business be assessed if you make a mistake complying with the new regulations, mandates, laws and executive orders?
“Complying with the maze of mandates and regulations will be difficult, especially for those trying to do the right thing and grow their business next year. The more you grow, the more likely you are to be caught in one of the many Obamacare IRS traps,” Waguespack says. Read the full column.
