BenefitNews.com
The IRS recently eased the rules on comparable contributions to health saving accounts, giving employers more flexibility in offering health benefits. Under current federal law, an employer that has made a contribution to a worker's HSA must make a similar contribution to the HSAs of all comparable participating employees. Employers that failed to make such a contribution faced an excise tax equal to 35% of the aggregate amount contributed by the employees during that calendar year. The new regulations, which take effect on Jan. 1, 2007, exempt employers from the comparability rule with collectively bargained employees because they are "not comparable participating employees, if health benefits were the subject of good faith bargaining between such employee representative and such employer or employees." What's more, the rules provide further clarification on HSA contributions through a cafeteria plan. For example, "if employees are allowed to contribute to an HSA by salary reduction through a cafeteria plan, all employer contributions to the employee's HSA will be treated as being made through a cafeteria plan," thus excluding the employer from the comparability rules
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