NEW YORK- Thomson Reuters has released a special report for employers, accounting firms, and other professionals who advise business clients, Get Ready to Play or Pay: Employer Shared Responsibility Under Health Care Reform. The report highlights key provisions employers must understand to avoid tax penalties related to the Affordable Care Act.

Beginning in 2015, the Affordable Care Act will subject certain employers to penalties if they fail to offer employer-sponsored health care coverage to full-time employees or if they offer coverage that does not meet "minimum value" standards.

This report provides an overview of employer shared responsibility, decision points, and resources, including tools and learning opportunities available through Thomson Reuters.

"Although shared responsibility does not take effect until next year, action is required now," said Jeff Knapp, senior editor in the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters. "Certain steps need to be taken in 2014 for application in 2015, so it is vital that employers coordinate efforts with their IT, finance, tax, legal, HR, payroll, and benefits teams to prepare for the new provisions."

Employers should be prepared to:

• Track employees' hours of service.
• Determine whether they are large employers subject to the law.
• Identify which full-time employees can trigger a penalty.
• Understand the consequences of not offering basic coverage to full-time employees and their children up to age of 26.
• Consider whether to offer affordable, minimum value coverage.
• Evaluate their eligibility for transition relief, which may mitigate or delay some of the shared responsibility consequences for 2015.
• Report required information to the IRS, which the government will need to correctly administer employer shared responsibility, the individual mandate, and premium tax credits.

Thomson Reuters offers many resources to help employers navigate these complex rules and requirements, including the following:

• ACA Decision Support Tool — interactive, web-based tool analyzing health care reform's impact on a business, including scenario planning and strategies for optimizing employer-provided health benefits and minimizing taxes.
• Checkpoint Learning Online Courses and Webinars — training and continuing education online courses and webinars. Upcoming topics include Understanding Health Care Reform—How the New Laws Impact Employers and Individual Taxpayers on June 26 and July 31, Health Care Reform Issues for Employers on July 17, Affordable Care Act: Employer and Individual Mandates, and Obamacare: The Employer Mandate.
• EBIA's Health Care Reform for Employers and Advisors — comprehensive coverage of health care reform, with special focus on employers and employer-sponsored health plans.
• EBIA's Web Seminars — recorded web seminars analyzing employer shared responsibility final regulations, including detailed coverage of monthly and look-back measurement methods and required reporting by employers.
• PPC's Guide to Health Care Reform — detailed coverage of health care reform, with special focus on tax issues.

The report is an example of the practical, insightful information available on Thomson Reuters Checkpoint. Checkpoint is the leading global brand of knowledge solutions for tax and accounting professionals. The Checkpoint solution is a robust, comprehensive, and interactive offering which provides integrated research, news, analysis, learning, and productivity tools to tax, audit, accounting, legal, trade, and finance professionals.

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