Late this afternoon (7/2/2013), the Obama administration announced that it is DELAYING THE EMPLOYER MANDATE (also known as “employer shared responsibility” and “pay or play”) until 2015. In turn, the Treasury Department announced that – “it would delay its enforcement an entire year after hearing numerous concerns from employers about the challenges of its implementation”. Specifically, the assistant secretary for tax policy – Mark Mazur – said – “We have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively. We recognize that the vast majority of businesses that will need to do this reporting already provide health insurance to their workers, and we want to make sure it is easy for others to do so. We have listened to your feedback. And we are taking action”.
The Treasury department will issue final guidance later this summer. So…for now…we can focus on other challenges and opportunities!
Have a great 4th of July!
