The Health Care Law & Your Taxes: Not Too Early to Determine if You Qualify for Exemption

With the 2017 tax filing season approaching, it’s not too early to think about how the health care law affects your taxes. The Affordable Care Act requires you and each member of your family to do at least one of the following:

• Have qualifying health coverage called minimum essential coverage
• 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 if you meet one of the following:

• The lowest-cost coverage available to you is considered unaffordable
• You have a gap in coverage that is less than 3 consecutive months
• 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

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, see our Individual Shared Responsibility Provision – Exemptions: Claiming or Reporting page on IRS.gov/aca.
Federal tax returns that do not reflect at least one of these options – reporting health care coverage, claiming a coverage exemption or reporting a shared responsibility payment -  will be rejected if the return is filed electronically. If filed on paper, tax returns that do not reflect at least one of these options will take longer to process and any refunds will be delayed.

Source: Internal Revenue Service

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Exemptions from the requirement to have health insurance

Most people must have qualifying health coverage or pay a fee for the months they don’t have insurance. But if you qualify for a health coverage exemption you don’t need to have health insurance or pay the fee.

Find health coverage exemptions that may work for you
Answer a few questions to see health coverage exemptions that may apply to you. We’ll tell you how to apply for each one.FIND EXEMPTIONS
If you’re still interested in exemptions for the 2015 tax year, visit  2015 exemptions page.

3 important facts about health coverage exemptions

• Exemptions are available based on a number of circumstances, including certain hardships, some life events, health coverage or financial status, and membership in some groups.
• You claim some health coverage exemptions on your federal tax return. Others you apply for with a paper application.
• You don’t have to pay the fee for any month you have qualifying health coverage. If you’re uncovered only 1 or 2 months, you don’t have to pay the fee for any month.

 Source: Healthcare.gov

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Health Insurance - It's Time to Get Covered

Save money on your tax return. If you do not have health insurance, it's time to get covered now.
Start here

Dates & deadlines for 2017 health insurance

You can enroll in or change 2017 Marketplace health insurance right now.
Important dates to note:

• November 1, 2016: Open Enrollment started — the first day to enroll, re-enroll, or change a 2017 insurance plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Coverage can start as soon as January 1, 2017.
• December 15, 2016: Last day to enroll in or change plans for coverage to start January 1, 2017.
• January 1, 2017: 2017 coverage starts for those who enroll or change plans by December 15.
• January 31, 2017: Last day to enroll in or change a 2017 health plan. After this date, you can enroll or change plans only if you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period.

Source: Healthcare.gov

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Newly Married Couples Should Report Marriage to Marketplace

If you’re recently married, you probably have a list of things to do.  There’s one other thing you should add to that list: a health insurance review. This is particularly important if you enrolled in coverage through a Health Insurance Marketplace and you receive premium assistance in the form of advance payments of the premium tax credit.

When you apply for assistance to help pay the premiums for health coverage through the Marketplace, the Marketplace will estimate the amount of the premium tax credit that you may be able to claim for the tax year using the information you provide. This information includes details about your family composition and your projected household income.
It is important for you to report life changes – known as changes in circumstances – to your Marketplace to get the proper type and amount of financial assistance and to avoid getting too much or too little in advance. Reporting changes in circumstances will allow the Marketplace to adjust your advance credit payments. This adjustment will help you avoid getting a smaller refund or owing money that you did not expect to owe on your federal tax return.
To report changes and to adjust the amount of your advance payments of the premium tax credit you must contact your Health Insurance Marketplace. Be sure to report all changes directly to that Marketplace because they can affect both your coverage and your final credit when you file your federal tax return.
Other changes you should report to the Marketplace include:

• Birth or adoption
• Marriage or divorce
• Moving to a different address
• Increases or decreases in your household income

These changes may also open the door for the Marketplace special enrollment period that permits health care plan changes. In most cases, the special enrollment period for Marketplace coverage is open for 60 days from the date of the life event.
The Premium Tax Credit Change Estimator can help you estimate how your premium tax credit will change if your income or family size changes during the year. This estimator tool does not report changes in circumstances to your Marketplace. Because these tools provide only an estimate, you should not rely on them as an accurate calculation of the information you will report on your tax return. You should use these estimators only as a guide to assist you in making decisions regarding your tax situation.

Source: Internal Revenue Service

contact@officetaxservices.com

(858)247-1680

Do you need help with your healthcare evaluation process?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires most Americans to have some form of health insurance by 2014 or face a tax penalty. It also may provide you and your family with a generous subsidy to purchase health insurance.
 
The law is complex and the impact is far-reaching, but you don’t have to figure it out on your own. We can help. Not only will we help you comply with the law, but we will ensure you receive the most benefits allowed under the law. How? Through our Healthcare Evaluation process, we will:
• Estimate your eligibility for the premium assistance credit
• Estimate the amount of your premium assistance credit
• Show you how the ACA might affect your tax future
• Make sure you avoid any tax penalties
• Explain the cost-sharing provisions of the ACA, which may reduce your out-of-pocket costs

Let us help make sense of the new healthcare mandate.

contact@officetaxservices.com

(858)247-1680

HSA - Tax-Advantaged Savings

An HSA (Health Savings Account) is a tax-advantaged savings account that is owned by an employee or self-employed person. The contributions and earnings can escape taxes when distributed if they go toward qualified medical expenses. So, if you have an HSA account and know in advance how much you will have in medical expenses, you can save that taxes.


The accounts are easy to set up and fund. The maximum contribution allowed for a family in 2016 is $ 6,750. If you are over 55, you can put an additional $1,000 into your HSA account.
Check if your HSA comes with investment options. HSAs accounts with investment options are a better choice for you.


Max, it Out to the point you can draw this money toward medical expenses. As you know, medical expenses are subject to an income limitation. The HSA, however, allows you to move a deduction for medical expenses from Schedule A to a deduction on the front of a Form 1040, so an HSA deduction will reduce your taxable income while medical expenses paid may not.
 

contact@officetaxservices.com

(858)247-1680

Do you need help with your healthcare evaluation process?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires most Americans to have some form of health insurance by 2014 or face a tax penalty. It also may provide you and your family with a generous subsidy to purchase health insurance.
 
The law is complex and the impact is far-reaching, but you don’t have to figure it out on your own. We can help. Not only will we help you comply with the law, but we will ensure you receive the most benefits allowed under the law. How? Through our Healthcare Evaluation process, we will:
• Estimate your eligibility for the premium assistance credit
• Estimate the amount of your premium assistance credit
• Show you how the ACA might affect your tax future
• Make sure you avoid any tax penalties
• Explain the cost-sharing provisions of the ACA, which may reduce your out-of-pocket costs

Let us help make sense of the new healthcare mandate.

contact@officetaxservices.com

(858)247-1680

Premium Tax Credit - Checkup 2016

If you or anyone in your family are getting advance payments of the premium tax credit, it’s that time of year for a checkup to see if you need to adjust your premium assistance. Since the advance payments are paid directly to your insurance company and lower the out-of-pocket cost for your health insurance premiums, changes in your income or family size may affect your credit.  You should report changes that have occurred since the time that you signed up for your health insurance plan.


Changes in circumstances that you should report to your Marketplace when they happen include:

• Increases or decreases in your household income including, lump sum payments; for example, lump sum payment of Social Security benefits
• Marriage
• Divorce
• Birth or adoption of a child
• Other changes affecting the composition of your tax family
• Gaining or losing eligibility for government sponsored or employer sponsored health care coverage
• Moving to a different address

Reporting the changes when they happen will help you avoid getting too much or too little advance payment of the premium tax credit.  Getting too much means you may owe additional money or get a smaller refund when you file your taxes. Getting too little could mean missing out on premium assistance to lower what you pay out-of-pocket for your monthly premiums.

Changes in circumstances also may qualify you for a special enrollment period to change or get insurance through the Marketplace. In most cases, if you qualify for the special enrollment period, you generally have 60 days to enroll following the change in circumstances. You can find Information about special enrollment at HealthCare.gov.

The Premium Tax Credit Change Estimator can help you estimate how your premium tax credit will change if your income or family size changes during the year. This estimator tool does not report changes in circumstances to your Marketplace. To report changes and to adjust the amount of your advance payments of the premium tax credit you must contact your Health Insurance Marketplace.

from IRS source.

contact@officetaxservices.com

(858)247-1680