(Inspiration for this post: I just met my FOURTH health insurance agent that did not enroll their small business employer client in a SHOP Marketplace plan. And this client is a not-for-profit that was counting on the credit.  It’s thus far been one of my major sources of stress this tax season.)

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT — The small business health insurance credit is ONLY available in 2014 & 2015 IF the small business buys employee health insurance through SHOP. Please check with your agent for 2015 to avoid any unpleasant surprises.

See if you qualify to purchase insurance through SHOP, here:
https://www.healthcare.gov/small-businesses/provide-shop-coverage/qualify-for-shop-marketplace/

We’re talking about a 35-50% credit for what you paid for employee health insurance. Insurance agents are often not doing this on behalf of clients; be proactive. And please spread the word to your small-business-owner friends:  https://www.healthcare.gov/small-businesses/provide-shop-coverage/shop-marketplace-overview/ .

Also — The U.S. Small Business Administration has numerous articles and webinars on the Affordable Care Act for small business owners.  A great resource for non-tax-professionals.  More SBA resources and a link to an archived audio recording on the topic, here: https://www.sba.gov/content/affordable-care-act-training-materials .

It breaks my heart when I have to tell small business owners that they don’t qualify; then they put me in touch with their agent, who acts defensively and tells me to stop telling them how to do their job, instead of a being a partner to their client.  All I’m saying is I’ve seen it too many times and I’m not arguing with any more brokers.  I’m just sending them to this post.

For the record, I understand that there are other reasons than a tax credit to choose a particular health insurance plan, and that’s fine — if the client is informed that they will not qualify for the credit, and chooses to get a non-SHOP plan for other reasons, that’s fine by me.  But they need to know what they’re giving up to do it.