The ACA has many implications for employers but most of them are for large employers called Applicable Large Employers or ALE's. These are companies that have more than 50 full-time employees. ALE's with 100 or more full-time employees, effective tax year 2015, are subject to the employer shared responsibility provision which requires them to make a shared responsibility payment.

All employers that provide self-insured health insurance must file a return annually which reports information on the individuals they cover. The forms for tax year 2015 will be filed in 2016.

You may be wondering, what qualifies as 50 full-time employees. As defined by the ACA, 50 employees is the number of full-time employees of every month added up over the calendar year and divided by 12. This is how you will determine whether or not the company is eligible to qualify as an ALE in the next year. It is important that employers know that if the 50 limit threshold is exceeded in this calendar year for example, the 50 full-time limit will apply to them in 2016. In other words, the limit is determined by the preceding year.

Employers which are smaller than 50 full-time employees or at exactly 50 full-time employees are allowed to purchase health cover through the Small Business Health Options Program also known as the SHOP Marketplace. Employers with more than 50 employees do not qualify for the SHOP Marketplace.

For more information on the ACA and its effect on employers you can visit the IRS website at the link below: