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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 231 / Monday, December 6, 2021 / Proposed Rules federal tax liability and timely file returns. Commenters cited additional production and/or mailing costs ranging from a half million to more than four million dollars annually without the relief. One state agency reported receiving only 478 requests for Form 1095B from approximately one million Medicaid recipients for 2019. Other commenters indicated that a small number of individuals need proof of minimum essential coverage to satisfy certain state requirements, but that very few individuals have otherwise requested the Form 1095B. Some commenters pointed out that taxpayers may be confused by the receipt of Forms 1095B.
In light of the public comments received, 1.60551g4 is proposed to be amended by adding new paragraph g4iiB to provide an alternative manner for a reporting entity to timely furnish statements. Under this alternative manner of furnishing, the reporting entity must post a clear and conspicuous notice on the entitys website stating that responsible individuals may receive a copy of their statement upon request. The notice must include an email address, a physical address to which a request may be sent, and a telephone number that responsible individuals may use to contact a reporting entity with any questions. This alternative manner of furnishing will apply only to taxable years when the shared responsibility payment amount under section 5000Ab is zero.
One commenter requested that, if the 2020 section 6055 furnishing relief is extended, a self-insured ALE member should continue to be permitted to use the relief for employees who are enrolled in the ALEs self-insured plan and who are not full-time employees of the ALE. The commenter also requested that the proposed regulations allow a self-insured ALE member to use the 2020 section 6055 furnishing relief for non-employees, such as former employees of the ALE, who are enrolled in the self-insured plan. The proposed regulations adopt both requests in the rules for the alternative method of furnishing. However, consistent with the guidance in Notice 202076, the proposed regulations do not allow ALE
members to use the alternative method of furnishing for full-time employees who are enrolled in the self-insured plan.
The proposed regulations also address a suggestion of a commenter to Notice 202076 who requested that future guidance specify the time period a reporting entity is required to retain the notice on its website and also explain
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how prominent the notice must be. The provisions of proposed 1.6055
1g4iiB provide that a reporting entity satisfies the furnishing requirements under 1.60551g4 by retaining the website notice until October 15 of the year following the calendar year to which the statement relates. Additionally, the proposed regulations clarify the requirement in Notice 202076 that a reporting entity include a prominently posted notice on its website. Under the proposal, a reporting entity must include a clear and conspicuous notice on the reporting entitys website that is reasonably accessible by individuals who may search the entitys website for tax information. A notice posted on a reporting entitys website will satisfy the requirement under proposed 1.60551g4iiB if written in plain, non-technical terms and with letters of a font size large enough including any visual clues or graphical figures to call to a viewers attention that the information pertains to tax statements reporting that individuals had health coverage. For example, a reporting entitys website that includes a statement on the main page, or a link on the main page, reading Tax Information, to a secondary page that includes a statement, in capital letters, IMPORTANT HEALTH COVERAGE
TAX DOCUMENTS; explains how responsible individuals may request a copy of Form 1095B, Health Coverage, or Form 1095C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage, as applicable; and includes the reporting entitys email address, mailing address, and telephone number, is a clear and conspicuous notice under these proposed regulations.
One commenter requested that the 2020 section 6055 furnishing relief be modified to allow a reporting entity to satisfy the furnishing requirement under 1.60551g by including only a link to a member portal through which responsible individuals may receive a copy of the Form 1095B via electronic download. The commenter stated that because responsible individuals will have located and navigated the website of a reporting entity to locate the entitys address and other contact information, the website notice informing individuals of the ability to request a Form 1095B should not have to also include contact information. The commenter noted that the process under which responsible individuals will send written requests or call customer service representatives of reporting entities to request Forms 1095B will take time and add costs to providing health care.

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Under the commenters proposal, reporting entities that do not provide a member portal for individuals to download and receive the Form 1095
B will be required to include a website notice with an email address, physical address, and telephone number for individuals to call to request the form, consistent with the first condition of the 2020 section 6055 furnishing relief.
The requirement in these proposed regulations that a reporting entity include its email address, mailing address, and telephone number on a website notice informing individuals of the ability to request a Form 1095B is consistent with other information reporting provisions. See, for example, 1.6050S1c1iiiG an educational institution or insurer issuing Form 1098T, Tuition Statement, is required to include contact information on statement. A responsible individual may have questions about how to request a copy of the statement required under 1.60551g for the taxable year or may have questions about some of the information on the statement. The proposed rule requiring the reporting entitys contact information on a posted website notice fulfills that need for responsible individuals. Accordingly, the comment recommending that a reporting entity may provide only website access to a member portal and capability to electronically download Form 1095B without the reporting entitys contact information is not adopted.
If, in the future, the shared responsibility payment amount under section 5000Ab is not zero, the Treasury Department and the IRS
anticipate that reporting entities will need adequate time to develop or restart processes for preparing and mailing paper statements to responsible individuals. If the shared responsibility payment amount is modified in the future, the Treasury Department and the IRS anticipate providing guidance, if necessary, to allow sufficient time for reporting entities to restart the reporting process.
c. Extension of Deadline for Furnishing Statements Under Section 6056
For the reasons discussed in section 2
of the Explanation of Provisions, the Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that, to reduce administrative burdens for ALE
members and the IRS, the furnishing requirements under 301.60561g1
should be modified by providing an automatic extension of time for ALE
members to furnish written statements to full-time employees. This proposed amendment to the regulations under
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