GOP chairman: IRS ObamaCare forms too complex

A House committee chairman is urging the IRS to clear up some confusion for small businesses trying to comply with President Obama’s healthcare law. 

In a letter dated Wednesday, Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.) called new Affordable Care Act tax forms “lengthy, complex and confusing” for companies around the country.

{mosads}The IRS released the two separate forms, which taxpayers would file to claim an exemption from ObamaCare’s individual mandate and to check the tax credits received to obtain insurance, in September.

Graves told the IRS commissioner, John Koskinen, that tax preparers had told the committee the IRS had yet to give them enough guidance on how to craft returns affected by the Affordable Care Act, especially given that only some reporting requirements are in effect for this year.

The Missouri Republican added that the new forms also don’t tell taxpayers that they have to apply for an exemption to the individual mandate, only that the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) will issue exemptions. The forms also don’t tell taxpayers how long they’ll have an exemption and how to appeal any decision, Graves added.

“Most small businesses do not have tax advisors, attorneys or accountants on their staff,” Graves wrote to Koskinen. “They must rely on outside assistance to navigate these complicated tax rules. On all of the above issues, is the IRS working with HHS to educate small business owners about these new forms and issues?”

Timothy Jost of Washington and Lee University said last month that it’s “difficult to overstate how complicated” the two new forms are and that low-income taxpayers trying to complete them “are likely to be confused, frustrated, even angry and certainly bewildered.”

The House voted to delay the individual mandate after the Obama administration pushed back the law’s employer mandate. The House later voted to sue Obama over the delay of the employer mandate.