Detailed help for Forms 1094-B, 1095-B, 1094-C and 1095-C filed through the IRS Affordable Care Act Information Returns (AIR) system. Work through TCC access, XML/schema errors, AATS versus Production, acknowledgements, corrections and common ACA data problems.
AIR problems are easier to solve when you identify the stage that failed. Do not keep retransmitting the same file without reading the acknowledgement or validation result.
Confirm you are using an ACA AIR TCC and that the ACA Application for TCC is signed and complete. For A2A, also confirm the client application system/certificate enrollment and the intended AATS or Production endpoint.
Separate basic XML errors from XSD/schema failures. First make the XML well formed, then validate against the exact AIR schema package and version required for the tax year and environment.
Use the Receipt ID to retrieve the acknowledgement. Read the transmission, submission and record-level errors before deciding whether to correct, replace or leave an accepted record alone.
Review employer/issuer identifiers, employee or responsible-individual names and TINs, coverage months, 1095-C offer codes, safe-harbor codes and covered-individual data. Fix the source record, then regenerate the XML.
Open each item for a practical troubleshooting path. Exact AIR error codes and rules vary by tax year, so use the current IRS schema/business-rule package with these steps.
Fix: Sign in to the ACA Application for TCC and verify the application is in completed status, responsible officials have signed when required, and the transmitter/issuer roles are correct. Confirm the TCC you entered is an AIR TCC, not an IRIS TCC. If you recently completed required testing or changed the application, allow time for IRS systems to update before retrying Production.
Fix: Confirm the endpoint, credentials, software ID and Receipt ID all belong to the same environment. IRS guidance distinguishes AATS Receipt IDs from Production Receipt IDs. A successful AATS test is not a Production filing.
Fix: Check for unescaped characters, a missing closing tag, duplicate root elements, malformed namespaces, broken UTF-8 text or truncated XML. The document must parse as XML before XSD validation is meaningful.
Fix: Validate against the correct tax-year AIR package. Check element order, required nodes, data types, min/max lengths, enumerated codes, namespace declarations and whether an element is allowed to be empty. Do not manually reorder tags unless the schema sequence requires it.
Fix: Review the IRS processing-year instructions. AIR may require the current processing-year manifest while prior-year form data uses the latest schema for that prior tax year. Rebuild both parts using the currently posted package instead of mixing files generated by different releases.
Fix: XSD validation checks structure; AIR business rules check relationships between values. Locate the record identified in the acknowledgement, compare the error rule to the 1094/1095 source data, correct the source record, regenerate and validate again.
Fix: Compare the name and TIN/SSN with the source documentation. Check transposed digits, legal-name changes, incorrect entity type, and whether the TIN belongs to the person named. Do not guess at a corrected TIN. Document solicitations when required by ACA information-reporting rules.
Fix: Review Lines 14–16 month by month. Confirm the offer code is compatible with the employee-required contribution and the applicable Section 4980H safe-harbor or other code. If "All 12 Months" is used, make sure monthly values do not contradict it.
Fix: Review each covered individual for SSN/TIN or permitted DOB reporting, and confirm the coverage indicator is correct for each month. Do not mark "covered all 12 months" while also sending contradictory month-level data.
Fix: Use the AIR foreign-address structure and valid country code. Do not populate mutually exclusive U.S. state/ZIP and foreign-address elements at the same time. Confirm special characters and address lengths meet the schema.
Fix: Verify the Receipt ID, environment and endpoint. IRS says to wait at least 10 minutes after receiving the Receipt ID before requesting the acknowledgement. If it is still unavailable, check AIR system status before retransmitting.
Fix: Treat the accepted records as filed. Use the acknowledgement to identify records that need correction. Do not resend the entire transmission as a new original unless the AIR instructions specifically require replacement.
Fix: Determine whether AIR rejected the whole transmission or a submission inside it. Correct the rejection cause, rebuild the replacement/original as directed by the acknowledgement, and preserve the original Receipt ID and submission identifiers for your audit trail.
Fix: First confirm the original record was accepted. Follow the IRS correction instructions for the specific form and error. Filing a second original for a return already accepted can create duplicate reporting.
Use the workflow that matches the AIR status you actually received.
Short answers to common AIR support questions.
No. Forms 1094-B, 1095-B, 1094-C and 1095-C are filed electronically through the IRS AIR system. IRIS is the IRS system for other information returns.
AATS is the ACA Assurance Testing System. It is used for testing and communication validation. Production is the live filing environment. Receipt IDs, endpoints and credentials must be used in the matching environment.
The IRS AIR help page says to wait at least 10 minutes after the Receipt ID is provided before requesting the acknowledgement. Processing can take longer during busy periods.
No. Schema validation confirms structure. AIR then applies business rules to values and relationships across the transmission, transmittal and recipient records.
Use the acknowledgement status. Corrections generally apply to records that were accepted; replacements address rejected submissions/transmissions as directed by AIR. Do not guess—follow the error-specific instructions in the current AIR guide.
Yes. AIR uses its own ACA Application for TCC. An IRIS TCC is not interchangeable with an AIR TCC.
Use the IRS AIR page and the tax-year schema/business-rules links posted there. IRS can post revised packages during the filing year, so verify release dates before generating XML.
Use the current IRS Instructions for Forms 1094-B/1095-B or 1094-C/1095-C. The instructions contain correction charts for filer, employee, coverage and transmittal errors.
Use these IRS sources for current-year requirements. External links open in a new tab.