Table 7.

Stipulations of the Employer Mandate

The employer mandate is based on full-time equivalent employees, not just full-time employees.

The fee is based on whether or not insurer offers affordable health insurance to his or her employees that provide minimum value (explained below).

The annual fee is $2,000 per employee if insurance isn't offered (the first 30 full-time employees are exempt).

If at least one full-time employee receives a premium tax credit because coverage is either unaffordable or does not cover 60% of total costs, the employer must pay the lesser of $3,000 for each of those employees receiving a credit or $750 for each of its full-time employees total.

The fee is a per-month fee due annually on employer federal tax returns starting in 2015 for small businesses with 100 or more full-time equivalent employees (2016 for those with 50–99 full-time equivalent employees). The per-month fee is 1/12 of the $2,000 or $3,000 per employee.

Unlike employer contributions to employee premiums, the Employer Shared Responsibility Payment is not tax deductible.