On Friday, March 15, 2013, NAR submitted comments to the Internal Revenue Service in connection with proposed regulations published on January 2, 2013, interpreting the Shared Responsibility for Employers Regarding Health Coverage requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Among other things, the proposed regulations set out a definition of “employee” for purposes of determining when an employer is an “Applicable Large Employer” and is thus subject to certain requirements under the Act, including providing health insurance coverage to employees of the firm.
The proposed regulations set forth a common law standard for defining the term “employee” and did not recognize the fact that “qualified real estate agents” are considered non-employees (independent contractors) under the tax law (Section 3508 of the Internal Revenue Code).
The comment letter urges the IRS to modify the regulations in their final form to recognize section 3508 and provide that statutory non-employees are not subject to the common law standard.