The IRS has announced it is modifying the annual limitation on deductions for contributions to a health savings account (“HSA”) allowed for taxpayers with family coverage under a high deductible health plan (“HDHP”) for the 2018 calendar year. Under Rev. Proc. 2018-27, taxpayers will be allowed to treat $6,900 as the annual limitation, rather than the $6,850 limitation announced in Rev. Proc. 2018-18 earlier this year.

The HSA contribution limit for individuals with family HDHP plan coverage was originally issued as $6,900 last May in Rev. Proc. 2017-37. Earlier this year, the IRS announced a $50 reduction in the maximum deductible amount from $6,900 to $6,850 due to changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Due to widespread complaints and comments from individual taxpayers, employers and other major stakeholders, the IRS has decided it is in the best interest of “sound and efficient” tax administration to allow individuals to treat the originally released $6,900 as the 2018 family limit. The IRS acknowledged that many individuals had already made the maximum HSA contribution for 2018 before the deduction limitation was lowered and many other individuals had made annual salary reduction elections for HSA contributions through employers’ cafeteria plans based on the higher limit. Additionally, the costs of modifying various systems to reflect the reduced maximum would be significantly greater than any tax benefit associated with an unreduced HSA contribution.

Rev. Proc. 2018-27 provides guidance for those taxpayers who already took a distribution in 2018 from their HSA based on the reduced maximum limit of $6,850. Anyone who receives a distribution from an HSA in excess of the $6,850 limit may treat that distribution as the result of a “mistake of fact due to reasonable cause.” The portion of a distribution (including earnings) that an individual repays to the HSA by April 15, 2019, will not be included in the individual’s gross income or be subject to the 20% additional tax for non-medical distributions. The repayment will not be subject to the 6% excise tax on excess contributions either. Mistaken distributions that are repaid to an HSA are not required to be reported on Form 1099-SA or Form 8889 and are not required to be reported as additional HSA contributions.

Alternatively, if an individual decides not to repay such a distribution it will not have to be included in gross income or subject to the additional 20% tax as long as the distribution is received by the individual’s 2018 tax return filing due date. This tax treatment, however, does not apply to contributions from an HSA that are attributable to employer contributions if the employer does not include any portion of the contributions in the employee’s wages because the employer treats $6,900 as the annual contribution limit. In that scenario, the distribution would be included in the individual’s gross income and subject to the 20% additional tax unless it was used to pay for qualified medical expenses.  In other words, if the employee withdraws the $50 and does not return it to the HSA, it’s not includible in income or subject to the 20% additional tax unless the $50 is reported as an employer contribution on the employee’s W-2 (in box 12, code W), in which case it would be includible in income and subject to the 20% additional tax.

Employers who previously informed employees that the limit was lowered should consider informing them now about the new limit and repayment option.

In Rev. Proc. 2018-18, the IRS has released adjusted contribution limits for health savings accounts (HSAs) due to changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).  As shown below, the new HSA contribution limit for individuals with family high deductible health plan (HDHP) coverage is $6,850, a $50 reduction from the previously announced inflation-adjusted amount for 2018.  Other HSA/HDHP figures remain unchanged.

HSA Contributions in Excess of $6,850

While most employees with family HDHP coverage will not have contributed more than $6,850 through salary reductions at this point in 2018, employers will need to communicate the reduction to employees and reduce elections for employees who have elected $6,900 (and who will not be age 55 by the end of 2018).  If an employer has already funded $6,900 on a non-taxable basis, they should include the additional $50 in the employee’s income and the employee may take a corrective distribution to avoid excess contribution penalties.

In most cases, the only task for employers will be to inform employees of the adjustment and, specifically, inform those who elected $6,900 (or $7,900 for employees who will be age 55+ at the end of 2018) that their election will be capped at $6,850 (as adjusted for the $1,000 catch-up).

Adoption Assistance Adjustment

The TCJA also reduces the amount that can be excluded from an employee’s gross income for the adoption of a child with special needs from $13,840 to $13,810.  The phase-out also begins at a lower level than previously expected – $207,140 (reduced from $207,580) and is completely phased out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income of $247,140 (reduced from $247,580).

Transition Relief for Certain Non-Compliant HDHPs

In separate guidance (Notice 2018-12), the IRS provided transition relief for an issue that threatened to disrupt HSA-eligibility for individuals in states that require certain health insurance policies to provide benefits for male sterilization or male contraceptives without cost sharing (reportedly, California, Illinois, Maryland and Vermont).  Under IRS rules, such coverage does not qualify as preventive when provided to males because they are not preventive care under the Social Security Act, and no applicable guidance issued by the Treasury and the IRS provides for the treatment of those benefits as preventive care.  Thus, the IRS concluded that under current guidance, a health plan isn’t an HDHP if it provides benefits for male sterilization or contraceptives before the minimum deductible for an HDHP is met, regardless of whether the coverage of those benefits is required by state law.  An individual who is not covered by an HDHP isn’t HSA-eligible and cannot contribute or receive employer contributions to a HSA on a tax-free basis.

The IRS understands that states may wish to change their laws in light of the Notice; however, they may be unable to do so in 2018 because of limitations on their legislative calendars or other reasons. Without relief, residents of these states would be unable to establish or contribute to an HSA on a tax-free basis unless their plan is exempt from the state mandate (e.g., they are covered under a self-insured ERISA plan).  Therefore, the Notice provides transition relief for 2018 and 2019 to participants in an HDHP that provides benefits for male sterilization or male contraceptives without a deductible, or with a deductible below the minimum deductible for an HDHP.  Until 2020, these individuals won’t be treated as failing to qualify as HSA-eligible individuals merely because they are covered by such an HDHP.

About The Authors. This alert was prepared for Sonus Benefits by Marathas Barrow Weatherhead Lent LLP, a national law firm with recognized experts on the Affordable Care Act. Contact Peter Marathas (pmarathas@marbarlaw.com), Stacy Barrow (sbarrow@marbarlaw.com) or Tzvia Feiertag (tfeiertag@marbarlaw.com).

On January 22, 2018, President Trump signed H.R. 195:  Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018, which is a short-term spending bill that re-opened the federal government after a three-day shut-down.  As discussed below, the bill:

• Extends the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years, through fiscal year 2023;
• Extends the existing suspensions of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) medical device excise tax through 2019 and the tax on high cost employer-sponsored health coverage (the “Cadillac Tax”) through 2021; and
• Suspends the annual fee on health insurance providers for 2019.

No other changes were made to the ACA as part of this bill.  Last month, as part of the Tax Reform and Jobs Act, the individual mandate penalty was reduced to $0 beginning in 2019.

Cadillac Tax – Delayed until 2022

The spending bill includes a two-year delay of the 2020 effective date to tax years beginning after December 31, 2021.  The Cadillac Tax – a 40% tax on employer-sponsored health coverage that exceeds $10,200 for individual and $27,500 for family coverage (indexed) – was previously delayed two years (to 2020) under the Protecting Americans From Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH Act).

While the delay was welcome news for many employers, efforts to fully repeal the Cadillac Tax are likely to continue as many employers believe it will increase both employee and employer costs and will cause employers to reluctantly cut benefits to avoid the tax.

Medical Device Tax – Extension of Moratorium for 2018 and 2019

The spending bill includes a two-year extension of the moratorium on the ACA’s 2.3% tax on the sale of medical devices.  Under the spending bill, the tax will not apply to sales during the period beginning on January 1, 2018 and ending on December 31, 2019.  The PATH Act had placed a two-year moratorium on the medical device tax for 2016 and 2017, which is now extended for 2018 and 2019.

Annual Fee on Health Insurance Providers – Suspended for 2019

The spending bill places a one-year moratorium on the annual fee on health insurance providers for calendar year 2019.  The PATH Act had placed a one-year moratorium on the fee for 2017.  Although it remains in effect for 2018, it will be suspended again for 2019.  The tax applies to fully insured medical, dental and vision plans based on the carrier’s net premiums and is typically passed through to employers that sponsor such plans.

About The Authors. This alert was prepared for Sonus Benefits by Marathas Barrow Weatherhead Lent LLP, a national law firm with recognized experts on the Affordable Care Act. Contact Peter Marathas (pmarathas@marbarlaw.com) or Stacy Barrow (sbarrow@marbarlaw.com).

On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed what is popularly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) (the “Bill”), overhauling America’s tax code for both individuals and corporations and providing the most sweeping changes to the U.S. Tax Code since 1986. The House and Senate Conference Committee provided a Policy Highlights of the major provisions of the Bill, and the Joint Committee on Taxation provided a lengthy explanation of the Bill.

Compared to initial proposals, the final Bill generally does not make significant changes to employee benefits. The chart that follows highlights certain broad-based health and welfare, fringe and retirement plan benefit provisions of the Bill (comparing them to current law). Notable changes include:

• Repeal of the Individual Mandate penalty beginning in 2019;
• Elimination/changes of employer deductions for certain fringe benefits, including qualified transportation fringes, moving expenses, and meals/entertainment;
• New tax credit for employers that pay qualifying employee while on family and medical leave, as described by the Family Medical Leave Act;
• Extended rollover periods for deemed distributions of retirement plan loans; and
• Tax relief for retirement plan distributions to relieve 2016 major disasters.

In addition, the Bill makes certain narrowly-tailored changes (which we did not include in the chart that follows) impacting only certain types of employers or compensation. For instance, the Bill:

• modifies the $1 million compensation deduction limitation under Code Section 162(m) for publicly traded companies (expanding the type of compensation which will be applied against the limitation, the individuals who will be considered covered employees, and the type of employers that will be subject to the limitation), with transition relief for certain performance-based compensation arrangements pursuant to “written binding contracts” in effect as of November 2, 2017, so long as such arrangements are not “modified in any material respect”; and
• creates a new “qualified equity grant” by adding a new Code Section 83(i), which allows employees of non-publicly traded companies to elect to defer taxation of stock options and restricted stock units (“RSUs”) for up to five years after the exercise of such stock options or the vesting of RSUs.

The Bill also has specific provisions impacting employers that are tax-exempt organizations. For instance, it imposes a new excise tax for highly compensated non-profit employees, and changes the way non-profits calculate unrelated business income tax (UBIT).

What’s Not Changing

ACA Employer Mandate & Reporting

While the individual mandate penalty has been reduced to zero beginning in 2019, at this time, the employer mandate and employer reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) remain in effect.

In addition, there were no changes to other ACA taxes and requirements. For example, the bill does not eliminate (or delay) the 40% excise tax on high-cost plans (Cadillac Tax) that is scheduled to be effective beginning in 2020, nor does it eliminate the comparative effectiveness research fees paid annually to fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) through 2019. However, the Trump Administration has indicated its intention to renew ACA repeal and replace efforts in 2018, which may result in additional changes at a later date.

It has been recently reported that Republican legislators are targeting a further delay of two ACA-created taxes – a 2.3% excise tax on medical devices, and an annual fee imposed on health insurers known as the HIT tax – for inclusion in a spending bill that must be passed by January 19. Both of these taxes are scheduled to go into effect beginning in 2018 after a delay was incorporated in a 2015 year-end tax extenders deal. Employer groups have been lobbying for an elimination or delay of the Cadillac Tax and relief on the employer mandate. It remains to be seen whether these tax relief items will be included as part of a spending bill later this month.

FSAs, HSAs, Adoption Assistance and Education Assistance Programs

Earlier versions of the Bill in both the House and Senate included provisions that would have significantly impacted the tax treatment of many employee benefits. However, the final Bill makes no changes to the tax treatment of HSAs, dependent care FSAs, health FSAs, adoption assistance programs, or qualified education assistance programs. Although, it has been reported that repealing restrictions on using FSAs, HSAs and other account-based plans to purchase over-the-counter medications could also be considered during negotiation of the spending bill.

Unsubsidized/Pre-Tax Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefits

While the Bill eliminated the employer deduction for qualified transportation fringe benefits, this change would appear to have the most impact on employers who subsidize transit and parking expenses since they may no longer claim a deduction for subsidized transit expenses (but such amounts would still be exempt for payroll tax purposes). For the majority of employers who do not subsidize transit expenses but offer pre-tax qualified transportation fringe programs that allow employees to enter into salary reduction agreements and receive transit expense reimbursements on a tax-free basis, the Bill should not have an impact on those programs. Tax-exempt employers will be taxed on the value of providing qualified transportation fringe benefits (such as payments for mass transit) by treating the funds used to pay for the benefits as UBIT.

For the majority of employers who do not subsidize transit expenses but offer pre-tax qualified transportation fringe programs that allow employees to enter into salary reduction agreements and receive transit expense reimbursements on a tax-free basis, the Bill should not have an impact on those programs. Employees may continue to receive transit expenses (other than bicycle commuting expenses) on a tax-free basis under such programs.

Structural Changes to Qualified Retirement Plans and Deferred Compensation Plans

In addition, there were no major changes to the general structure of qualified retirement plans, such as the “Rothification” of pre-tax deferrals in 401(k) plans, nor reductions in the limits that could be contributed tax-free. Nor were other changes that were initially proposed in the House version of the bill to retirement provisions (e.g., changing the minimum age of in-service distribution in retirement plans, modifying non-discrimination rules for “soft-frozen” defined benefit plans, and changes to 401(k) and 403(b) hardship withdrawal rules) included in the final bill.
Earlier versions of the Bill would have also completely upended how deferred compensation by companies to executives is paid by taxing such compensation when it vested. But this provision did not survive in the final Bill.

Next Steps

Only time will tell the full impact of the Bill on employers and employees. For instance, the repeal of the individual mandate beginning in 2019 may result in fewer “healthy” individuals enrolling in health coverage, resulting in increased premiums. Fewer individuals may enroll in Exchange coverage, reducing potential employer mandate penalty (both “A” and “B”) exposure, which is triggered when a full-time employee receives a premium subsidy for Exchange coverage.

Given the changes to the corporate tax rates, it remains to be seen whether employers will alter how they compensate their employees, particularly, highly compensated employees, and how they will handle their pension, 401(k)/profit sharing plans, and other employee benefits.

In addition, it is likely that there will be a correction bill (and IRS guidance) in 2018 to address unintended consequences, omissions, ambiguities, and drafting errors in the Bill. We will continue to monitor for further legislative and other developments impacting employee benefits as a result of the passage of the Bill.

In the meantime, we suggest that employers work with their payroll departments and vendors, accountants, finance, counsel and other advisors to assess the impact of the Bill to its benefit programs and implement necessary changes to their systems and practices.

For a summary of select employee benefits changes in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R.1) here.

About The Authors. This alert was prepared for Sonus Benefits by Marathas Barrow Weatherhead Lent LLP, a national law firm with recognized experts on the Affordable Care Act. Contact Peter Marathas (pmarathas@marbarlaw.com), Stacy Barrow (sbarrow@marbarlaw.com) or Tzvia Feiertag (tfeiertag@marbarlaw.com).