The IRS recently announced the optional 2022 standard mileage rates for taxpayers to use in calculating the deductible costs of using an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving expense (for members of the Armed Forces) purposes. Further, the notice announced the amount that must be included in the employee’s income and wages for the personal use of an employer-provided automobile.

On December 30, 2021, the DOL issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2021-03, which announces a temporary enforcement policy for group health plan service provider disclosures under ERISA Section 408(b)(2). The bulletin also attempts to address certain questions regarding the required disclosures and indicates the DOL does not intend to issue regulatory guidance at this time.

On November 23, 2021, HHS issued instructions and supporting documents to report data under a transparency provision of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA), which requires group health plans and insurers to annually report certain information regarding spending on prescription drugs and health care treatment to the government. These documents describe the data submission methods for plans and insurers for the 2020 calendar year (“reference year”).

The IRS recently released an information letter that reiterates guidance regarding high-deductible health plan's (HDHPs) coverage of primary and behavioral health care visits before the minimum required deductible is met, as well as HDHP rules generally.

The IRS recently released the 2022 Instructions for Forms 1099-SA and 5498-SA. The Form 1099-SA is used to report distributions from health saving accounts (HSAs) and other medical savings accounts. The 5498-SA reports contributions to these accounts for the applicable tax year.

On December 7, 2021, the IRS provided an updated draft of the 2021 IRS Publication 15-B, the Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits. This publication provides an overview of the taxation of fringe benefits and applicable exclusion, valuation, withholding and reporting rules.

In a DOL fact sheet, the agency announced that over $2.4 billion was recovered from enforcement of ERISA by the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) through investigations, complaint resolution and other enforcement efforts for the fiscal year 2021.

On November 23, 2021, the IRS, HHS and EBSA published interim final rules related to prescription drug and health care spending reports. The rules are the latest in a series implementing the transparency provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA).

HHS recently announced inflation-adjusted penalty amounts related to Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC), Medicare secondary payer (MSP) and HIPAA privacy and security rules violations. These new penalty amounts are calculated based on a cost-of-living increase of 1.01182%. The new amounts are applied to penalties assessed on or after November 15, 2021, for violations occurring on or after November 2, 2015.

On November 10, 2021, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2021-45, providing certain cost-of-living adjustments for a wide variety of tax-related items, including health FSA contribution limits, transportation and parking benefits, qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangements (QSEHRAs), the small business tax credit and other adjustments for tax year 2022. Those changes are outlined below.