IRS finalizes guidance for correcting, disclosing certain 501(r) violations

The Internal Revenue Service yesterday posted guidance finalizing, with modifications, the correction and disclosure procedures under which certain failures to meet requirements of section 501(r) of the Affordable Care Act will be excused. Under the final Section 501(r) regulations for charitable hospitals, infractions that are more than minor, but not willful or egregious, may be excused if corrected and disclosed according to certain procedures. The final procedures largely adopt those proposed in December 2013, with several improvements that respond to hospital comments. The final procedures confirm that minor errors or omissions are not treated as failures to comply with the law and are not subject to the procedures, and include several examples of minor infractions. They also clarify that a hospital’s correction and disclosure of a failure will weigh favorably in demonstrating that the failure was not willful, and that multiple errors of the same type can be disclosed and described in the aggregate. Disclosures generally must be made on the hospital’s Form 990, but governmental hospitals that do not file a Form 990 can meet the requirement by making the information widely available on their websites. AHA members will receive an advisory with more details in the coming days.