This Form 1094-C 2026 guide explains the IRS Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Returns. Form 1094-C combines a transmittal function with the employer-level information required for the applicable reporting rules. Employer membership, employee counts and the relevant certifications or indicators should be supported by the employer records. The form must be coordinated with the employee statements.
Reviewed October 31, 2026. This is an independent guide. The version and availability information below identifies the IRS documents used for this page.
What Form 1094-C 2026 does and who prepares it
An applicable large employer uses the transmittal and employer-level coverage reporting form required by the instructions.
For the connected reporting route, see Form 1095-C. Keep the role of that document separate from the task explained on this page.
| Official form | Form 1094-C |
|---|---|
| IRS title | Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Returns |
| Guide period | 2026 |
| Target version | 2026 |
| Availability | Current IRS catalog PDF |
| Last checked | October 31, 2026 |
Get the Form 1094-C 2026 PDF and check its status
Use the IRS source to confirm the document before completing a real filing. The download link is a reference to the official file; it is not a statement that every copy inside the PDF may be printed and submitted. Follow any instructions about electronic filing, scannable copies, recipient copies or attachments.
Which version of Form 1094-C 2026 should you use?
The 2026 in the title identifies the tax year or calendar-year information addressed by this guide. For a 2026 income reporting document, the preparation or filing activity may occur in 2027. Do not change the income year simply because the calendar has changed. The exact filing or furnishing date comes from the instructions for this form and the filer circumstances.
Records to gather for Form 1094-C 2026
- Employer and group information.
- Monthly employee counts.
- Coverage offer records.
- Transmitted employee forms.
- Filing and correction confirmations.
Keep a working reconciliation with these records. It should show the source of each reported item, any correction made before filing and the reason a different amount appears on a connected form. This is especially useful when a statement is corrected or a prior-year balance continues into the current calculation.
How to work through Form 1094-C 2026
- Identify the issuer and recipient. Check which person or entity prepares the information return and which person receives a statement. Use the correct copy and filing route for that role.
- Reconcile the underlying records. Compare the statement with the transaction, payroll, account or payment records. Resolve duplicate reporting and unexplained differences before carrying a total into a return.
- Read boxes and codes separately. Different boxes can describe different tax categories. A gross payment, a taxable amount, a withholding credit and an identifying code should not be combined as if they were one measure.
- Use the correct return treatment. An information return supplies facts. It does not independently establish every deduction, exclusion, credit or final tax result for the recipient.
- Address corrections at the source. Check the issuer correction process for an incorrect statement. If a related tax return has already been filed, review separately whether that return also needs a correction.
Form-specific IRS instructions and reporting details
The following points retain the operative wording of the IRS documents linked above. Read each point with its stated conditions and the applicable form version. References to another form or section describe a connected requirement; they do not mean that every reader must file every referenced document.
ALE Members that offer employer-sponsored, self-insured coverage also use Form 1095-C to report information to the IRS and to employees about individuals who have minimum essential coverage under the employer plan.
ALE Members that offer employer-sponsored, self-insured health coverage to nonemployees who enroll in the coverage may use Forms 1094-B and 1095-B, rather than Form 1095-C, Part III, to report coverage for those individuals and other family members. For this purpose, a nonemployee includes, for example, a nonemployee director, an individual who was a retired employee during the entire year, or a nonemployee COBRA beneficiary, including a former employee who terminated employment during a previous year.
For information on reporting for nonemployees enrolled in an employer-sponsored, self-insured health plan using Forms 1094-B and 1095-B, see the instructions for those forms. For ALE Members that choose to use Form 1095-C to report coverage information for nonemployees enrolled in an employer-sponsored, self-insured health plan, see the specific instructions for Form 1095-C, Part III—Covered Individuals (Lines 18–30), later. Form 1095-C may be used only if the individual identified on line 1 has an SSN.
Additional reporting conditions
If you are not using the official IRS form to furnish statements to recipients, see Pub. 5223, General Rules and Specifications for Affordable Care Act Substitute Forms 1095-A, 1094-B, 1095-B, 1094-C, and 1095-C, which explains the requirements for format and content of substitute statements to recipients. You may develop them yourself or buy them from a private printer. Substitute statements furnished to recipients may be in portrait format; however, substitute returns filed with the IRS using paper must be printed in landscape format.
An employer that offers health coverage through a self-insured health plan must report information about each individual enrolled in such coverage. For an employer that is an ALE Member, this information must be reported on Form 1095-C, Part III, for any employee who is enrolled in coverage (and any spouse or dependent of that employee). See the option to file Form 1094-B and Form 1095-B, rather than Form 1094-C and Form 1095-C, to report coverage of certain nonemployees, below.
Calculations and supporting information
Example 2. Employer B, an ALE Member, files two Forms 1094-C, one for each of its two operating divisions, Division X and Division Y. (Division X and Division Y are units of the same ALE Member, and thus both report under the same employer identification number (EIN); they are not members of an Aggregated ALE Group.) Attached to one Form 1094-C are Forms 1095-C for the 200 full-time employees of Division X, and attached to the other Form 1094-C are Forms 1095-C for the 1,000 full-time employees of Division Y.
One of these Forms 1094-C should be identified as the Authoritative Transmittal on line 19, and should include aggregate employer-level data for all 1,200 full-time employees of Employer B as well as the total number of employees of Employer B, as applicable, as required in Parts II, III, and IV of Form 1094-C.
The other Form 1094-C should not be identified as the Authoritative Transmittal on line 19, and should report on line 18 only the number of Forms 1095-C that are attached to that Form 1094-C, and should leave the remaining sections of the form blank, as indicated in the instructions for line 19, later.
Exceptions and related reporting
If your legal residence or principal place of business or principal office or agency is outside the United States, file with the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, TX 73301. Shipping and mailing. If you are filing on paper, send the forms to the IRS in a flat mailing (not folded), and do not paperclip or staple the forms together. If you are sending many forms, you may send them in conveniently sized packages. On each package, write your name, number the packages consecutively, and place Form 1094-C in package number one.
Postal regulations require forms and packages to be sent by First-Class Mail. Returns filed with the IRS must be printed in landscape format. Keeping copies. Generally, keep copies of information returns you filed with the IRS or have the ability to reconstruct the data for at least 3 years, from the due date of the returns.
If you are filing your returns on paper, see Pub. 5223 for specifications for private printing of substitute information returns. You may not request special consideration. Only forms that conform to the official form and the specifications in Pub. 5223 are acceptable for filing with the IRS. Substitute returns filed with the IRS must be printed in landscape format.
Further form details
Correcting information affecting statement furnished to employee using an Alternative Furnishing Method under the Qualifying Offer Method. If an ALE Member eligible to use the Qualifying Offer Method had furnished the employee an alternative statement, the ALE Member must furnish the employee a corrected statement if it filed a corrected Form 1095-C correcting the ALE Member’s name, EIN, address, or contact name and telephone number.
If the ALE Member is no longer eligible to use an Alternative Furnishing Method for the employee for whom it filed a corrected Form 1095-C, it must furnish a Form 1095-C to the employee and advise the employee that Form 1095-C replaces the statement it had previously furnished.
• Submission to the IRS: 1. Prepare a new Form 1095-C. 2. Enter an “X” in the “CORRECTED” checkbox at the top of the form. 3. Submit corrected Form 1095-Cs with a non authoritative Form 1094-C transmittal to the IRS.
Further form details
Specific Instructions for Form 1094-C Part I—Applicable Large Employer Member (ALE Member) Line 1. Enter employer’s name. The employer is the ALE Member. Line 2. Enter the ALE Member’s EIN. Do not enter an SSN. Enter the nine-digit EIN, including the dash. Caution: If you are filing Form 1094-C, a valid EIN is required at the time the form is filed. If a valid EIN is not provided, Form 1094-C will not be processed. If you do not have an EIN, you may apply for one online. Go to IRS.gov/EIN.
You may also apply by faxing or mailing Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number, to the IRS. See the Instructions for Form SS-4 and Pub. 1635, Understanding Your EIN.
Caution: If you are filing Form 1094-C, a valid EIN is required at the time it is filed. If a valid EIN is not provided, Form 1094-C will not be processed. If you do not have an EIN, you may apply for one online. Go to IRS.gov/EIN. You may also apply by faxing or mailing Form SS-4 to the IRS. See the Instructions for Form SS-4 and Pub. 1635.
Reading the lines and boxes
These selected labels come from the linked target PDF. They are a reading aid, not a replacement for the full line instructions or a completed calculation. Match the label and document version before transferring any amount.
| Line or box | Label in the source form | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Name of ALE Member (Employer) | Use the identity of the person or entity requested on this line. Check that the name and identification number agree with the underlying tax records. |
| 3 | Street address (including room or suite no.) | Check the applicable line instructions and keep the source workpaper with the return records. Transfer only the information that matches the field and reporting period. |
| 4 | City or town | Check the applicable line instructions and keep the source workpaper with the return records. Transfer only the information that matches the field and reporting period. |
| 7 | Name of person to contact | Use the identity of the person or entity requested on this line. Check that the name and identification number agree with the underlying tax records. |
| 9 | Name of Designated Government Entity (only if applicable) | Use the identity of the person or entity requested on this line. Check that the name and identification number agree with the underlying tax records. |
Further selected fields
| Line or box | Label in the source form | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Street address (including room or suite no.) | Check the applicable line instructions and keep the source workpaper with the return records. Transfer only the information that matches the field and reporting period. |
| 12 | City or town | Check the applicable line instructions and keep the source workpaper with the return records. Transfer only the information that matches the field and reporting period. |
| 15 | Name of person to contact | Use the identity of the person or entity requested on this line. Check that the name and identification number agree with the underlying tax records. |
| 18 | Total number of Forms 1095-C submitted with this transmittal | Follow the stated arithmetic and line references in sequence. Complete the referenced inputs first and retain the worksheet supporting the result. |
| 19 | Is this the authoritative transmittal for this ALE Member? If “Yes,” check the box and continue. If “No,” see instructions | Check the applicable line instructions and keep the source workpaper with the return records. Transfer only the information that matches the field and reporting period. |
A practical example
An employer gathers monthly coverage and employee information before completing its annual reporting. The preparer checks the employer-level entries and reconciles the transmittal with the related employee statements.
This example illustrates the order of the review. It does not assume an unverified deduction, exemption, treaty rate or final tax amount. The applicable form instructions and the actual records determine the result.
Common mistakes to avoid with Form 1094-C 2026
- Do not treat the form as only a cover sheet when employer-level questions apply.
- Check authoritative-transmittal and group reporting rules.
- Reconcile the employee form count and employer data.
Questions about Form 1094-C 2026
Does receiving or downloading this form mean I must file it?
An applicable large employer uses the transmittal and employer-level coverage reporting form required by the instructions. The form purpose and the applicable filing or furnishing conditions determine the action. Downloading a blank PDF does not itself create a filing obligation or establish eligibility for a tax benefit.
Is the revision date always the same as the tax year?
No. Some forms show a tax year, while continuing-use forms show a revision date and ask separately for the reporting period. Check the actual document and instructions. Do not relabel a payment or transaction solely because it was reported in a later calendar year.
What should I do if the underlying information is wrong?
Do not treat the form as only a cover sheet when employer-level questions apply. Keep the original record and the correction trail. The issuer correction process, an amended return and an updated certificate can be different procedures. Choose the process that matches the document and the actual error.
Which records should I keep with the completed form?
Retain the source documents, applicable worksheets, submitted version and filing or furnishing confirmations. For this form, the working file should include employer and group information, monthly employee counts, coverage offer records. Keep continuing balances and prior-year support for as long as they remain relevant under the applicable recordkeeping rules.
Related forms and next steps
Use these guides when the connected issue applies to your records. Each page has its own purpose, reporting year and availability status.