Health care benefits will be included on 2011 W-2s

 

Have you seen the recent email saying that the value of company health care benefits will soon be added to your W-2? The email further says that the cost will be added to your earnings and you will be taxed on it! The claim that this will be added to taxable income isn’t true. While the huge healthcare bill recently passed is complex and includes many tax increases (some obvious and others buried in the healthcare bills we pay), please be assured, this isn’t one of them.

 

Starting with the W-2 issued for 2011 wages, if your employer provides health care benefits, the cost will be included on your W-2 as an information line. As the law was passed, it will not be added to wages and will not be taxed. This information shows that you have company health insurance. Without this, you must either prove that you have purchased your own insurance or pay a penalty when you file your income tax return.