New technologies aided a massive phone scam, but investigators turned the tables on the scheme, which allegedly caused ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’ in taxpayer losses. On Nov. 24, 2014, a woman named Diana received a menacing phone call in Hernando, Miss., a small city nestled in the northwest corner of the state. A caller…
IR-2018-178, Sept. 5, 2018 WASHINGTON — Business taxpayers who make business-related payments to charities or government entities for which the taxpayers receive state or local tax credits can generally deduct the payments as business expenses, the Internal Revenue Service said today. Responding to taxpayer inquiries, the IRS clarified that this general deductibility rule is unaffected…
Over the last couple of years, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conducted “desk audits” of 166 covered entities and 41 business associates. These audits focused on select HIPAA privacy, security and breach notification requirements. HHS has not released its official findings from the audits yet, but it has identified serious compliance gaps in…
The IRS released draft 2018 forms for Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting under Internal Revenue Code (Code) Sections 6055 and 6056. Draft instructions for 2018 have not yet been released. The 2018 draft forms are substantially similar to the final 2017 versions. However, the revised version of the Form 1095-C clarifies that the “Plan Start…
Rule Permits Associations Based on Industry or Geography The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new rule that allows employers to join together as a single group to offer group health insurance coverage to employees, working owners (including those without other employees), and their spouses and dependents as part of an “association health…
The Affordable Care Act’s medical loss ratio (MLR) rules require group health insurance issuers to provide rebates if their MLR—the amount of health insurance premiums spent on health care and activities to improve health care quality—falls short of the applicable standard during a reporting year. Each year’s rebates must be issued to plan sponsors by…
