This month, the IRS quietly updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 55-58 regarding employer shared responsibility provisions under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to explain how the IRS is going to start imposing employer shared responsibility excise taxes.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”), on its face, acknowledges a constitutional issue with employer shared responsibility: protecting employers’ due process rights, while protecting employees’ taxpayer privacy rights. Recognizing the potential enormity of this hurdle, the drafters directed the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to address this issue in a report to Congress by January 1, 2013, and to work with the Department of Treasury and other agencies to establish an advance notice and appeal process in compliance with employees’ and employers’ rights.