Reuters has reported this news about a Florida restaurant chain with locations that have begun adding an “Affordable Care Act” surcharge to their customers’ bills:
However, the restaurant chain has not in fact incurred any Obamacare-related health insurance expenses.
What the restaurant chain is doing is no different than if it were charging a fee now because its rent expense or water expense or electricity expense might possibly increase at some point in the future.
Here’s why:
The Affordable Care Act requires all businesses with more than 50 full-time employees to provide health insurance for their staff, or to make a shared payment on their federal tax return.
Important: Originally due to go into effect in January, the requirement has been postponed until the end of the year (2014).