Box 1: Name of responsible individualThe person who should receive the statement: generally the primary subscriber, employee or primary taxpayer, or a parent when only children are covered.Click to open the row in the table belowBox 2: Social security number (SSN) or other TINThe responsible individual's SSN or other TIN. “No SSN or other TIN is required if the responsible individual isn’t a covered individual identified in Part IV”.Click to open the row in the table belowBox 3: Date of birthEnter only if line 2 is blank.Click to open the row in the table belowBox 4 to 7: AddressComplete mailing address of the responsible individual; use the P.O. box if mail does not go to the street address.Click to open the row in the table belowBox 8: Origin of the Health CoverageOne letter: A SHOP, B employer-sponsored (other than an individual coverage HRA), C government-sponsored program, D individual market, E multiemployer plan, F other designated coverage, G individual coverage HRA. TRICARE and the DoD Nonappropriated Fund program use C.Click to open the row in the table belowBox 10 to 15: Part II: Information About Certain Employer-Sponsored CoverageCompleted only by issuers or carriers of insured group coverage (codes A or B): the sponsoring employer's name, EIN and address. A self-insured employer entering code B skips Part II; it is also left blank for multiemployer plans.Click to open the row in the table belowBox 16: NameThe provider: the issuer, the self-insured plan sponsor, or the government agency.Click to open the row in the table belowBox 17: Employer identification number (EIN)The provider's EIN, which may not be truncated on any copy.Click to open the row in the table belowBox 18: Contact telephone numberA number where an individual can reach a person about the form.Click to open the row in the table belowBox 19 to 22: Provider addressComplete mailing address of the provider.Click to open the row in the table belowHover over a box for what goes in it; click to open its row in the table below. On a touch screen, tap the box to jump to the row.
Who files Form 1095-B
“Every person who provides minimum essential coverage to an individual during a calendar year must file an information return reporting the coverage.” In practice that means: health insurance issuers and carriers for insured coverage, including insured employer plans and SHOP coverage (Marketplace qualified health plans are reported on Form 1095-A instead); government agencies for Medicaid, CHIP, Medicare, TRICARE and other government programs; and plan sponsors of self-insured coverage that are not applicable large employers, including sponsors of multiemployer plans.
“Health insurance issuers or carriers will file Form 1095-B for all insured employer coverage.” “Small employers that aren’t subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions sponsoring self-insured group health plans will use Forms 1094-B and 1095-B”. An ALE that self-insures uses Form 1095-C Part III for employees, but may use Form 1095-B for nonemployee enrollees such as retirees, nonemployee directors and COBRA beneficiaries who left in an earlier year.
Coverage consisting only of excepted benefits (stand-alone dental or vision, workers' compensation, specified disease coverage) is not minimum essential coverage and is not reported.
Box by box
| Box | What it is | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Name of responsible individual | The person who should receive the statement: generally the primary subscriber, employee or primary taxpayer, or a parent when only children are covered. |
| 2 | Social security number (SSN) or other TIN | The responsible individual's SSN or other TIN. “No SSN or other TIN is required if the responsible individual isn’t a covered individual identified in Part IV”. |
| 3 | Date of birth | Enter only if line 2 is blank. |
| 4 to 7 | Address | Complete mailing address of the responsible individual; use the P.O. box if mail does not go to the street address. |
| 8 | Origin of the Health Coverage | One letter: A SHOP, B employer-sponsored (other than an individual coverage HRA), C government-sponsored program, D individual market, E multiemployer plan, F other designated coverage, G individual coverage HRA. TRICARE and the DoD Nonappropriated Fund program use C. |
| 10 to 15 | Part II: Information About Certain Employer-Sponsored Coverage | Completed only by issuers or carriers of insured group coverage (codes A or B): the sponsoring employer's name, EIN and address. A self-insured employer entering code B skips Part II; it is also left blank for multiemployer plans. |
| 16 | Name | The provider: the issuer, the self-insured plan sponsor, or the government agency. |
| 17 | Employer identification number (EIN) | The provider's EIN, which may not be truncated on any copy. |
| 18 | Contact telephone number | A number where an individual can reach a person about the form. |
| 19 to 22 | Provider address | Complete mailing address of the provider. |
| 23 to 28 | Part IV: Covered Individuals | For each person: (a) name, (b) SSN or other TIN (blank if none), (c) date of birth only if (b) is blank, (d) covered all 12 months, or (e) each month with at least one day of coverage. More than six people go on the continuation sheet. |
Due dates
| What | Due | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| File with the IRS on paper (2026 coverage) | March 1, 2027 | February 28, 2027 falls on a Sunday; the general rule is February 28 on paper. |
| File through AIR | March 31, 2027 | Form 8809 by the due date gives an automatic 30-day extension of the filing date. |
| Furnish to the responsible individual | March 2, 2027 | January 31 with the automatic 30-day extension under Treas. Reg. 1.6055-1(g)(4); confirm against the 2026 instructions when posted. |
| Alternative manner: website notice posted | By the furnishing due date | Retain through October 15 of the filing year; send a requested statement within 30 days of the request. |
| Keep copies | 3 years | From the due date of the returns. |
Penalties
A coverage provider that fails to file correct 1095-Bs, or to furnish correct statements, is subject to IRC 6721 and 6722. For 2026 returns due in 2027 the tiers are $60 per return if corrected within 30 days, $130 by August 1, $340 after that, and $690 for intentional disregard (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), with lower annual caps for businesses with average gross receipts of $5 million or less. Failing to e-file when required is up to $340 per return beyond the 10 that may go on paper.
For TINs, Pub 1586 gives two specific protections. A filer is not penalized for failing to report a TIN if it reports a date of birth when no TIN is available (Treas. Reg. 1.6055-1(e)) or meets the solicitation rules of Treas. Reg. 301.6724-1(e). And “TIN solicitations made to the responsible individual for a policy or plan are treated as TIN solicitations of every covered individual on the policy.” See reasonable cause under Reg. 301.6724-1.
Corrections
Fully complete a new 1095-B with CORRECTED checked, file it with a Form 1094-B transmittal (the 1094-B itself is never corrected), and furnish a corrected copy to the responsible individual. If the original was furnished but not filed, write “CORRECTED” on the new statement without checking the box. Corrections in AIR go only against records that were Accepted, Accepted with Errors or Partially Accepted; rejected transmissions are replaced.
“You must file a corrected return to report retroactive changes in coverage.” A cancellation for nonpayment back-dated into the prior year, or a retroactive Medicaid approval, both require a corrected return and a corrected statement.
Where it goes wrong
- Wrong form. An ALE that self-insures reporting employees on 1095-B instead of 1095-C Part III, or a non-ALE filing 1095-C.
- Insurer and employer both reporting. For insured plans the carrier files; the employer does not.
- TIN mismatch messages. For returns under Treas. Reg. 1.6055-1, Pub 1586 says an AIR error message on a name and TIN “is neither a Notice 972CG nor a requirement that the filer must solicit a TIN in response to the error message”. A reporting entity also is not required to solicit a TIN from someone whose coverage has terminated.
- Code B used for an individual coverage HRA. An ICHRA is code G on line 8.
- Duplicate coverage. If one provider covers a person under two plans in the same month (say a self-insured major medical plan and an HRA), only one is reported.
Inside the IRS: what happens to Form 1095-B
The IRM says little about Form 1095-B beyond processing and penalties. IRM 8.7.21 restates the rule: IRC 6055 “requires every person who provides minimum essential coverage to an individual during a calendar year” to report it, with Form 1095-B “used to provide the statement on individual coverage to both the IRS and the individual”. The Letter 226-J process described there is built on Forms 1094-C and 1095-C, not on Form 1095-B.
Paper Forms 1095-B are scanned under IRM 3.41.267, and the same unprocessable rule applies to redacted numbers: a batch fails when “50 percent or more of the TINs (social security numbers (SSNs)) show only the last four-digits of the SSNs (appear redacted)”. A 1095-B the IRS receives without its transmittal is not processed; for a loose 1095-B the routing guide says “Destroy locally as classified waste.”
For penalties, IRM 20.1.7 states that 1095-B filers “will not be subject to penalties for failure to report a TIN if date of birth is provided when a TIN is not available.” Also, “a reporting entity is not required to solicit a TIN from an individual whose coverage is terminated.” What to do: report a date of birth whenever a covered individual's TIN is missing, and never truncate SSNs on the IRS copy.
Questions people ask about Form 1095-B
Do we have to mail 1095-Bs anymore?
Not automatically. A provider is treated as furnishing on time if it posts a clear and conspicuous website notice that responsible individuals may request a copy (with an email address, mailing address and phone number), keeps it up through October 15, and furnishes a requested statement by the later of January 31 or 30 days after the request (Notice 2025-15).
We are a 30-employee company with a self-insured plan. Which form?
Form 1095-B with Form 1094-B. Small employers not subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions report self-insured coverage on the B forms.
A covered child has no SSN. What do we enter?
Leave column (b) blank and enter the date of birth in column (c). Reporting a date of birth when no TIN is available protects you from the missing-TIN penalty under Treas. Reg. 1.6055-1(e).
Is a dental-only plan reported?
No. Coverage that consists solely of excepted benefits, such as stand-alone dental or vision, is not minimum essential coverage.
How are 1095-Bs e-filed for 2026?
Through the ACA Information Returns (AIR) system with an ACA TCC, not IRIS. The IRS AIR page states: “If you have 10 or more returns, e-filing is required.”
Other employer, withholding and ACA forms
Payroll and employment tax returns: W-4 · 941 · 941-X · 944 · 943 · 940 · W-2 · W-3 · W-2c · 8027
Withholding returns: 945 · 1042
Health coverage (ACA) returns: 1095-C · 1094-C · 1094-B
Paper transmittal: 1096
These forms on the comparison table · Information returns (1099 series)
Sources: Form 1095-B (2025; 2026 draft posted March 2026); Instructions for Forms 1094-B and 1095-B (2025; 2026 instructions not posted as of Oct. 2026); Notice 2025-15; Pub 1586 (Rev. 8-2026); Pub 5165 (Rev. 9-2026); IRS AIR program page (Oct. 2026); IRC 6055, 6721, 6722, 6724; Rev. Proc. 2025-32.