ACA Reporting of 1094's and 1095's

1. Can I use Quarterly Express Plus to complete my ACA filing for Tax year 2015?  Yes, this software allows you to create manually your 1094's and associated 1095's and transmit them either Indirectly, or directly to the IRS. 
2. What is the difference between a 1094 and a 1095? The 1094 is the transmittal that is used to batch 1095's and prepare them for transmission to the IRS.  A 1094-B must be created to submit 1 or more 1095-B returns and likewise, a 1094-C must be created to submit 1 or more 1095-C's to the IRS. 
3. What is an Authoritative 1094-C? There is only one 1094 return that contains real tax related information and that is the 1094-C.  For any company filing 1095-C's, you must file at least 1 Authoritative 1094-C for TY2015.  This authoritative return will contains answers for questions 20-22, and Parts 3 and 4 of the form.  Once you have submitted your Authoritative form for that tax year, you will continue to create transmittals to submit additional forms but they will not be authoritative and will not contain the additional information.  1094-B forms are always non-authoritative because they don't contain any tax information.
4. As a Reporting Agent, can I send these ACA returns directly to the IRS using the MEF system like I do my 941's?  The IRS built a brand new system for ACA (Information Reporting) called AIR.  AIR is a file transfer interface which we are using to submit the informaiton returns to the IRS.  This system is tied to MEF, but does not operate like it.  Our software will take you to the ACA Reporting Page and you will login using your e-Services Account, but a TCC is required to allow you to connect to the system.  If you don't have a TCC, we recommend to get one but use the Indirect method of filing for TY2015.
5. Can I Import an XML file generated from another product?  Yes, we have added the ability to not only import our Excel and Tab Delimited formats, but also an XML file.  If the XML file is in the AIR format, you can bring it into our software and file the returns using that conduit.  Keep in mind that the software generates an XML file for submission to the IRS, but it has what is needed to allow processing which your file may not.