House Committee on Small Business Chairman Steve Chabot (R-OH) said Congress should work to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) based on information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding the enforcement of the health care bill’s employer mandate.
On Dec. 14, 2017, Chabot requested data about IRS enforcement of the ACA employer mandate to show its effect on small businesses in America.
The IRS responded on Jan. 3, 2018, confirming their initiation of enforcement actions targeting employers with 51 or more employees who work 30 or more hours a week that did not provide health insurance for FY2015.
The IRS followed up on July 9, 2018, with additional information on its enforcement actions related to ACA.
“After receiving additional data and information from the IRS, it’s clear that small businesses are still suffering from Obamacare,” Chabot said. “While the IRS, like other federal agencies, is obligated to enforce the laws under its jurisdiction, small businesses who already compete with large companies now have the IRS knocking on their doors to collect on a flawed law the previous Administration put in place but failed to enforce for years. As I suspected, this troubling response from the IRS indicates that, as of March 30, 2018, IRS has identified nearly 10,000 small businesses who may be subject to hefty fines from fiscal year 2015 alone, and IRS indicates the enforcement actions will continue.”
Chabot added that while the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act effectively ended the individual mandate, small businesses are still subject to IRS enforcement actions.
“Small business owners should be focusing their time, energy, and resources on operating and expanding their businesses, instead of dealing with surprises from the IRS,” Chabot said. “Congress must work towards repealing and replacing Obamacare to relieve employers and the millions of Americans they employ from this unwieldy burden.”