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12 March 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com THE PROADVISOR SPOTLIGHT SPONSORED CONTENT Te fnancial solution provider has updated its Lacerte, ProSeries and Intuit Tax Online professional tax products to address ACA compli- ance. Tis comes right on time for the est i mated 147 m i l l ion ta x payers expected to fle this year. The U.S. government estimates that 94 million people are covered under some sort of health insurance pla n, w h ich mea n s t hey or t hei r accountant won't have to worry about pena lties, exemptions or the pre- mium ta x credit. However, for the other 36 percent of taxpayers, fling taxes this year could get confusing. To ensure compliance w ith the ACA, accountants will need to fle new forms for their clients. Under the AC A , t he r e a r e For m s 10 95 - A , 1095 -B, 1095 -C, 8962 a nd 8965. Form 1094-A will be sent to anyone who purchased healthcare coverage from the market place. Forms 1095-B and 1095-C are optional this year and will come from the taxpayer's insur- a n c e p r o v i d e r a n d e m p l o y e r , respectively. All three forms will be mandatory to fle for tax year 2015. "Accountants need to discuss with their clients whether they are covered and then do due diligence to verify t h a t c o v e r a g e , " s a i d M i c h a e l D'Avolio, CPA, Senior Tax Analyst, I nt u it 's Professiona l Ta x Group. "W hat will need to be fled will vary depending on the taxpayer's status and circumstances." Accountants shou ld work w ith their individual taxpayer clients to ensure they have received the proper forms from either their employer, insurance provider or the healthcare marketplace. Taxpayers can use their insurance pol ic y or For m W-2 as proof of insurance if they need to verify their coverage. Once accountants have the neces- sa r y for ms f rom cl ients, t hey a re ready to fle for tax year 2014, with plenty of help from Intuit. Intuit's L a c e r t e , P r o S e r i e s , I n t u i t Ta x Online products provide complete f u nc t iona l it y for t he new cred it, penalty and exemptions. A ll three products have been updated w ith new questions and felds so tax pre- parers can ensure they are ask ing their clients the right questions in relation to the ACA. In addition, the screens are also paterned afer the ACA source documents and feature interactive g uides to d irect users through completing the forms. ProSeries has a new feature called "E x pl a i nable Ca lc u l at ion s" t hat explains how certain ACA-related amounts were determined. Each of these felds will be highlighted in blue and the system will take the preparer through the worksheet used for the calculation. Both Lacerte and ProS- eries ofer credit and penalty compu- tation capabilities. Intuit has created a ver y robust training resource for its customers. In addition to the updated features of Lacerte, ProSeries and Intuit Tax Online, the company also offered training and webinars for profes- s i o n a l s . T h e t r a i n i n g i nc l u d e d product demonstrations and tax law up d at e s . I nt u it 's AC A re s ou rc e website ( htp://accountants.intuit. com/afordable-care-act/index.jsp ) feat u res recorded versions of it s training sessions and other resources that accountants can share with their c l ient s . W h i le t he compa ny h a s concluded webinars focusing on the individual taxpayer provisions of the ACA, it has plans to roll out addi- tional webinars in the future focusing on the business provisions. "As of this fall, less than 7 percent of accountants felt 'very prepared' for this tax season as a result of the ACA. Consequently, we felt it was impor- tant to help accountants be equipped for these conversations w ith their clients," said D'Avolio. "We've been adding quite a bit of training and tools to help these frms with ACA." The forms behind ACA: • Form 1095-A , Health Insurance Marketplace Statement • Form 1095-B, Health Coverage • Form 1095-C, Employer Provided Health Insurance Ofer and Coverage • Form 8962, Premium Tax Credit. Taxpayers may be eligible for this credit if they purchase health insur- ance coverage from a marketplace and have a moderate to low income. Any advance payments received during the year are subtracted from the credit calculated on the tax return. • Form 8965, Health Coverage Exemp- tions. Taxpayers that meet certain criteria are exempt from the individual shared responsibility provision and will not have to obtain coverage. • Te individual shared responsibility provision requires taxpayers and each family member to have qualif ying health insurance, unless they have an exemption. Taxpayers who do not carry insurance and do not qualify for an exemption may be subject to a penalty when fling a federal income tax return. I t's the height of tax season and the Aford- able Care Act is on everyone's mind as they try to fgure out what it means for their taxes. For many Intuit customers and their clients, there's help. Intuit Prepares Accountants for ACA Provisions