Greetings!
Special Announcement - New Changes to HIRD Filings
Division of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is sending out letters now to Employers.
Many of our employers just completed the annual on-line filing of the Health Insurance Responsibility Disclosure (HIRD) and Fair Share Contribution for November 15th. Now, you will receive another notice from the Massachusetts Division of Workplace Enforcement that beginning immediately, these filings will be required on a QUARTERLY BASIS.
The first quarter represents the period 10-1-08 thru 12-31-08. The filing period for this term is from 1-1-09 to 2-15-09.
ALL EMPLOYERS WILL BE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THE 1ST QUARTER FILING.
Employers will then be notified if they will be given an exemption for the remaining 3 filings.
Basically the filing works the same way as the annual filing you recently completed. You will need your DUA numbers. Our understanding of this change is that it is about generating fee income for the Commonwealth as expected revenues have been less than projected. Rather than waiting till the end of the year to collect any fines or penalties due, the Commonwealth wants to collect them sooner - therefore the change to quarterly. This is a direct attempt to target those employers who are subject to penalties and collect the revenues sooner.
To access the on-line filing click here. The first day for filing is 1-1-09.
IF you have any questions, email Bill or Vanessa. To learn more about Advantage Benefits, click here. Many of our clients have found these newsletter to be quite helpful and we have now set up a link to hold all of the archived newsletters on-line that can be accessed at anytime.
IF you know anyone who may find this information of interest, please forward them this newsletter (there is a link on the bottom), and they can subscribe themselves.
Sincerely,
Bill Randell, CLU, CHFC Vanessa Costa, CLU,CHFC
Advantage Benefits Group, Inc. | 
