Many tax-exempt nonprofit organizations that provide health insurance coverage to their employees now qualify for a special IRS tax credit.
The newly enacted health care reform legislation includes a tax credit that encourages small employers and nonprofit organizations to offer or maintain health insurance for their employees.
In general, the credit is available to small employers that have fewer than 25 full-time employees (with wages averaging less than $50,000 per employee per year) and that pay at least half the cost of health insurance coverage for their employees.
The tax credit, which is already effective, provides a maximum credit of 25 percent of premiums paid in 2010 by eligible tax-exempt employers. In 2014, this tax credit will increase to 35 percent of premiums paid by eligible tax-exempt employers.
Tax-exempt organizations that are eligible for the tax credit will receive it as a refund of payroll taxes paid. The IRS has not yet released information on how tax-exempt organizations should apply. More information about the credit can be found here.