IRS Health Care Tax Tip 2016-61, July 20, 2016 For purposes of the Affordable Care Act, an employer’s size is determined by the number of its employees. Employer benefits, opportunities and requirements are dependent upon the employer’s size and the applicable rules. If an employer has at least 50 full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, on average during the prior year, the employer is an ALE for the current calendar year. However, there is an exception for seasonal workers. If you have at least 50 full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, on average during the prior year, your organization is an ALE. Here’s the exception: If your workforce exceeds 50 full-time employees for 120 days or fewer during a calendar year, and the employees in excess of 50 during that period were seasonal workers, your organization is not considered an ALE. For this purpose, a seasonal worker is an employee who performs labor or services on a seasonal basis. The terms seasonal worker and seasonal employee are both used in the employer shared responsibility provisions, but in two different contexts. Only the term seasonal worker is relevant for determining whether an employer is an applicable large employer subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions. For information on the difference between a seasonal worker and a seasonal employee under the employer shared responsibility provisions see our Questions and Answers page. See the Determining if an Employer is an Applicable Large Employer page on IRS.gov/aca for details about counting full-time and full-time equivalent employees. You can also see our Health Care Law: Highlights for Applicable Large Employers video on the IRS YouTube channel’s Health Care playlist. Subscribe to IRS Tax Tips Follow IRS on Social Media Visit the Health Care playlist on the IRS YouTube channel Health care tax tips Health Care Tax Tips Health Care Tax Tips - December 2016 Health Care Tax Tips - November 2016 Health Care Tax Tips - October 2016 Health Care Tax Tips - September 2016 Health Care Tax Tips Related HealthCare.gov Individual shared responsibility provision The Premium Tax Credit – The basics Affordable Care Act – What to expect when filing your tax return Gathering your health coverage documentation for the tax filing season ACA information center for tax professionals How to correct an electronically filed return rejected for a missing Form 8962
