http://www.factcheck.org/2010/05/hea...and-w-2-forms/
Q: Does the new health care law require workers to pay income tax on the value of employer-provided health insurance?
A: No. The value will appear on employees’ W-2 forms for information purposes, but will not be considered taxable income.
The e-mail’s author correctly quotes a Congressional Research Service summary of the bill that became law (H.R. 3590), noting that Section 9002 "Requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer-sponsored group health coverage." But the author then goes on to conclude — quite incorrectly — that this amount will be "added to your gross pay" and that "[y]ou will be taxed on the total." The CRS did not say that, and neither does the legislation itself. In fact, the value will continue to be untaxed, just as in the past.
The e-mail’s author also claims that an article written by Joan Pryde, a senior editor of the Kiplinger letters, backs up the claim: "Go to Kiplingers and read about 13 tax changes that could affect you. Number 3 is what I just told you about." But the truth is that the Kiplinger letters actually contradicts the claim.
Pryde’s article is dated April 5 and is headlined "Health Care Reform: Tax Hikes on the Way — Here are 13 changes in the massive overhaul that could impact your tax bill, for better or worse." Among them:
3. A requirement that businesses include the value of the health care benefits they provide to employees on W-2s, beginning with W-2s for 2011. The amount reported is not considered taxable income.
The author of this false e-mail seems to have missed the second sentence in that paragraph — the part that says the amount "is not considered taxable income."