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2016 Health Coverage Exemption - What You Need To Know

2016 Health Coverage Exemption

The 2017 tax filing season is here and it's now is the time to consider how the health care law affects your taxes. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also referred to as Obamacare, requires you and every family member to complete at least one of the following:

Have qualifying health coverage called minimum essential coverage. For most Americans this means buying a qualified health plan either inside or outside the health insurance marketplace, getting covered through work, or getting public health insurance through Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP.
Qualify for a health coverage exemption.
Make a shared responsibility payment with your federal income tax return for the months that you did not have coverage or an exemption.

If you meet certain criteria for the tax year, you may be exempt from the requirement to have minimum essential coverage. You will not have to make a shared responsibility payment for any month that you are exempt. Instead, you'll file Form 8965, Health Coverage Exemptions, with your federal income tax return. For any month that you do not qualify for a coverage exemption, you will need to have minimum essential coverage or make a shared responsibility payment. You may be exempt from the requirement to maintain qualified coverage if you:

Have no affordable coverage options because the minimum amount you must pay for the annual premiums is more than eight percent of your household income,
Have a gap in coverage for less than three (3) consecutive months, or
You qualify for an exemption for one of several other reasons, including having a hardship that prevents you from obtaining coverage or belonging to a group specifically exempt from the coverage requirement *.

Federal returns that do not reflect at least one of these options will be rejected immediately if the return is filed electronically. If filed on paper, tax returns that do not reflect at least one (1) of the options listed will take more time to process and any refunds will surely be delayed. We advise our clients to respond promptly to IRS correspondence about your health care coverage.

Questions?

To find out if you're eligible for a coverage exemption or must make a payment, don't hesitate to contact the office. Help is just a phone call away.

*The Federally-facilitated Marketplace is no longer granting exemptions for members of a health care sharing ministry, members of Indian Tribes, and incarceration. Eligible individuals can still claim these exemptions on a tax return. For a full list of exemptions and how to claim them, please call.

02/21/2017

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2016 Health Coverage Exemption - What You Need To Know

2016 Health Coverage Exemption

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