The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires employers that issue more than 250 W-2 forms to report the cost of health care coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan on each employee’s 2012 W-2 form, which generally are required to be provided to employees in January 2013.  

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), transition relief is available for certain employers and with respect to certain types of coverage.  Employers covered by the transition relief, and with respect to the types of coverage covered by the transition relief, are not required to participate in the reporting until future guidance is provided, and that includes relief from reporting on any 2012 W-2 forms.  To learn more about the employers, types of coverage, and situations eligible for the transition relief, visit the IRS Q&As. 

Additional information from the IRS:

• The value of the health care coverage will be reported in Box 12 of the W-2 form, with Code DD to identify the amount. There is no reporting on the W-3 form of the total of these amounts for all the employer’s employees. 
• In general, the amount reported should include both the portion paid by the employer and the portion paid by the employee. In the case of a health flexible spending arrangement (FSA), the amount reported should not include the amount of any salary reduction contributions. See Notice 2012-9 for more detail on the interim rules that apply to reporting contributions to a health FSA.  For more information about the types of coverage that employers must report, see the IRS chart. 
• An employer is not required to issue a W-2 form solely to report the value of the health care coverage for retirees or other employees or former employees to whom the employer would not otherwise provide a W-2 form.   

For more information about the W-2 form reporting of employer-sponsored health coverage, visit the IRS website.