Form 1094-B

What Is 1094-B?

The 1094-B form is a transmittal form used to summarize the 1095-B forms that are submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Each 1095-B form provides details about an individual’s minimum essential health coverage, typically reported by health insurance providers or certain employers. 

The 1094-B serves as a cover sheet, indicating how many 1095-B forms are being submitted and identifying the filer. While Form 1095-B and Form 1094-B are important for reporting health coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), they are primarily used by insurance providers and small employers that are not subject to the ACA’s employer mandate. Larger employers (with 50+ full-time employees) typically use Forms 1095-C and 1094-C instead.

Who Needs to File Form 1094-B?

Insurance providers and carriers file Form 1094-B for fully insured plans. If you’re a self-insured small employer with less than 50 full-time or equivalent employees, and if you offer a self-funded health plan, you’re mandated to submit both 1094-B and 1095-B forms. 

It’s very important to understand the difference and fill out the correct forms, to receive the right tax benefits, and to steer clear of penalties. 

What Information Is Required on Form 1094-B?

Ensure the name, EIN, and address for the coverage provider matches the information reported on Form 1095-B part 3. The contact person and their phone number must be accurate, since they will be contacted directly and they will be required to answer important questions from the authorities. Please note that this may not be the same contact number listed in part 3 of form 1095-B. 

How Do You Fill Out Form 1094-B?

Here are the instructions to fill out the form:

Step 1: Enter Filer information. This is where you give basic details about the person or organization submitting the form. Make sure the EIN and name match what’s registered with the IRS to avoid rejection.

Step 2: Enter the total number of 1095-B Forms Submitted (Part II). The 1094-B is like the cover page and the 1095-B forms are like the pages in a report, it tells the IRS how many are inside. 

Step 3: Sign and date the form. There’s no signature line on the form, but you certify accuracy by submitting it, whether electronically or on paper. 

How to Submit Form 1094-B?

Deadlines are crucial when it comes to filing Form 1094-B, regardless of whether you are filing manually or electronically. Once you finish filing successfully, you must legally mail each 1095-B to individual employees. 

After you file each 1095-B form completely (one form for each employee and all their dependents) with each recipient’s name, address, social security number, months during which the coverage was provided, and issuer’s information, you bundle them up and fill out the 1094-B form. 

Deadlines

If you’re filing electronically, take up the 1094-B filing after you’ve thoroughly vetted the 1095-Bs. All electronic filing should go through the AIR system only. For manual filing, the last date is February 28 of the year. If you’re wondering where to mail form 1094-B, send it to IRS Center, Attention: 1094-B Processing P.O. Box 219256, Kansas City, MO 64121-9256. For electronic filing, March 31st is the deadline. For sending 1095-Bs to individuals, March 1 of the year. 

Reporting

If you’re a small business sponsoring a self, or level-funding healthcare plan, you must report to the IRS. If you sponsor a fully insured plan, you need not report. 

What Are the Most Common Mistakes to Avoid for Form 1094-B?

If you provide incorrect information, the IRS can impose penalties for each return or error. So it’s good sense to have your team double-check each entry at least twice before completing your filing process.

• You might input the wrong name, EIN, or filing year. The best way to avoid it is to double-check every little detail before submitting, by using a tool like Keka HR to cross-verify details before entering all insurance-related details onto the IRS portal.

• You may omit the contact person or contact person’s telephone number. You could have a designated senior person in the company whose details are consistently given year after year in the 1094-B form. This ensures the IRS can reach someone if clarification or corrections are needed.

• Listing the wrong total number of 1095-B forms being submitted with the 1094-B is all too common, especially if you’re dealing with a fleeting workforce. Maintain a checklist or log to track every 1095-B form issued and included. With an advanced people management tool like Keka, you have all healthcare and benefit details ready, for employees and their dependents covered by insurance, so you have an accurate headcount at all times.

• Providing incorrect or missing Social Security Numbers (SSNs) on the 1095-B forms that 1094-B summarizes is another common mistake that employers like you make, especially when you’re chasing deadlines while juggling a thousand other tasks. Verify SSNs using HR or insurer records, double check if possible.

• If you’ve recently set up a company or have scaled massively in the past year, you may inadvertently file on paper even though you’re submitting 250 or more 1095-B forms, which violates IRS e-filing requirements. Register for the IRS Affordable Care Act Information Returns (AIR) system and obtain a Transmitter Control Code (TCC). Use approved e-filing software or work with a tax service provider for electronic filing.

• Instead of forgetting to submit the form, you may sometimes accidentally submit two 1094-B forms, which will confuse the IRS. Ensure all 1095-Bs for a submission cycle are grouped correctly and attached to a single 1094-B, and make it a mandatory entry on your 1094-B checklist.

How to Amend Form 1094-B?

As of recent updates, there are no corrections allowed on the 1094-B form, since it’s a transmittal form. There are no correction checkboxes on the 1094-B form. In case you’re making a change to one of the 1095-B forms, you need to submit it as an attachment to a new 1094-B transmittal form. You can’t change a form you have already submitted. 

What Should I Do If I Lose My 1094-B?

You can always get an automatic 30-day extension of time to file by completing form 8809, on or before the due date for forms 1094-B and 1095-B. Check with your tax preparer if they have an additional copy, just in case. You can also go into online portals and download a digital version of your Form 1094-B. 

What is the Difference Between 1094-B and 1094-C?

Form 1094-B transmits individual health coverage data, while Form 1094-C transmits employer-provided coverage and employee offer details.

Form 1094-B is the transmittal that health insurance issuers and small employers with self-insured health plans file with the IRS. It accompanies all of the Form 1095-B statements generated for individuals who actually enrolled in minimum essential coverage during the calendar year. The data in those 1095-B forms demonstrate compliance with the Affordable Care Act’s individual-mandate reporting requirement by confirming the months in which each covered person held qualifying insurance.

Form 1094-C, in contrast, is filed only by Applicable Large Employers—those that averaged at least fifty full-time employees (including full-time-equivalent hours) in the prior year—regardless of whether their plan is fully insured or self-funded. It transmits the employer’s 1095-C statements, which list every full-time employee, indicate whether each person was offered employer-sponsored coverage, show whether that offer met minimum-value and affordability standards, and note whether the offer was accepted or declined.

Although both forms are simply cover sheets, each serves a distinct purpose of compliance. Form 1094-B focuses on who actually had health coverage, satisfying individual-mandate record-keeping, while Form 1094-C focuses on which employees received an offer of affordable, minimum-value coverage, enabling review of large-employer mandate compliance.