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Start Planning Early: New Affordable Care Act Forms You May Need to File Your 2014 Taxes

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Each year, there are a few common tax forms you can expect to get in the mail, like your W-2 or 1099, which you’ll need to file your taxes.

When you file your 2014 taxes in 2015, you may notice a couple new tax forms to help you verify your health coverage as part of provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Here’s an explanation of the new tax forms you may see at tax-time:

Form 1095-A: If you purchase health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace, you will receive Form 1095-A, which will show details of your insurance coverage such as the effective date, amount of the premium, and the advance premium tax credit or subsidy.

Form 1095-B or 1095-C: Although not required for 2014 taxes, you may also receive one of these forms to report insurance coverage from agencies outside the Marketplace and from your employer. The IRS has provided a transition period for Form 1095-B and 1095-C, so these will not be required for tax year 2014.

Forms 1095-A, 1095-B, and 1095-C are source documents you will use to report your insurance coverage on your tax return to comply with the Affordable Care Act.

Form 8965: Starting in 2015 (for your 2014 tax return), if you didn’t have health insurance coverage in 2014 and qualify for an exemption from purchasing health insurance and a tax penalty, your tax return will include — Reporting of Exemptions From Coverage — to report the exemption certificate number you received from the Marketplace.

There are a few exemptions, like your income does not meet the IRS filing requirement, that can be applied for at the time you are filing your taxes, however most exemptions should be applied for in the Marketplace before 2015 since you have to receive approval and report the exemption certificate number on your taxes.

Form 8962: If you purchased health insurance in the Health Insurance Marketplace and received a premium tax credit in 2014, information about your advance premium tax credit will be reported and the actual premium tax credit will be determined on form 8962.

Both Form 8965 and Form 8962 will be generated and attached to your tax return.

You were eligible for the premium tax credit if you met all the following criteria:

  • You must get health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace;
  • Are ineligible for coverage through an employer or government plan;
  • Are within certain income limits;
  • Do not file a Married Filing Separately tax return (unless you meet a specific criteria, which allows certain victims of domestic abuse to claim the premium tax credit using the Married Filing Separately filing status for the 2014 calendar year);
  • Cannot be claimed as a dependent by another person.

If you were eligible for the premium tax credit, you could have chosen to:

  • Get It Now: have some or all of the estimated credit paid in advance directly to your insurance company to lower what you pay out-of-pocket for your monthly premiums; or
  • Get It Later: wait to get all of the credit when you file your tax return. This may either increase your tax refund or lower your balance due.

As with all tax laws, TurboTax is up-to-date with the latest tax law changes.  If you have more questions about the Affordable Care Act and how it impacts you and your taxes, you can visit TurboTax Health to get answers.

Lisa Greene-Lewis

Lisa has over 20 years of experience in tax preparation. Her success is attributed to being able to interpret tax laws and help clients better understand them. She has held positions as a public auditor, controller, and operations manager. Lisa has appeared on the Steve Harvey Show, the Ellen Show, and major news broadcast to break down tax laws and help taxpayers understand what tax laws mean to them. For Lisa, getting timely and accurate information out to taxpayers to help them keep more of their money is paramount. More from Lisa Greene-Lewis

33 responses to “Start Planning Early: New Affordable Care Act Forms You May Need to File Your 2014 Taxes”

  1. When I used turbo tax for 2013 I filed married filing joint with my husband but for some reason we only got credit for one exemption, my husband. I didn’t notice this and turbo tax didn’t pick it up during the final review. Shouldn’t this have been identified in the review? We both had income. Did other people have this problem? How can I amend this?

  2. I’ve checked with both Covered California and my tax preparer and neither can answer this question: Form 8985 uses AGI to reconcile your applied tax credits at tax time. This year was OK because I had ACA for the entire 2014. However, next year I will only have ACA for 4 months and then move to Medicare. How is your AGI rreported when you only have 4 months of ACA and then move to Medicare for remainder of that year? How is your annual salary reported for only those 4 months to ensure that your whole annual salary is not used to reconcile your applied tax credits? I’ve looked at the forms and nowhere do I find where it pro-rates only the salary for the 4 months you had ACA. It wouldn’t be fair if you had to use your entire annual salary for only 4 months of applied tax credits, because you would definitely owe money back. There must be some check and balance to ensure only average salary for those 4 months you were on ACA was used. Someone must have encountered this scenario, yet I cannot find anyone who can properly answer this. Thank you.

  3. If all the family members are included in 1095A, one of the children was no longer the dependent of the parents because he made too much income and had to file his own return. How does this child report the health coverage in his return? Just check the box? Also, one of the children has to file his own return due to taxable scholarship and he is still the dependent of his parents. How does this child report the health coverage in his return? Also just check the box?

  4. It is February 11, 2015 and I have not received a Form 1095-A from the Massachusetts Health Connector and there is nothing on their website or in the news about any delays. I think I will just go ahead and file my Federal return and let the idiots in DC work it out with the idiots in Boston.

  5. We had state subsidized health insurance from Massachusetts called Commonwealth Care. They are sending out form 1099 HC, how do I put this into my Federal Forms?

  6. My husband and I received health insurance through marketplace in 2014. We also received and used the premium tax credit. But, we are currently going through a divorce so we want to file married separate for 2014. Do we still need to report the 1095-A form? If yes, how? Do we report on both or only one person report 1095-A on his/her tax? Please advise

  7. If I had the Cobra Insurance-Will the employer or the Health Financial Service the handled the payments be sending a tax form to me? I paid almost 7000.00 for coverage in 2014.

    • Hi Julie,
      Private health insurance providers are not required to send any forms this year related to your coverage. Your coverage may be reflected on your W-2.
      Thank you,
      Lisa Greene-Lewis

    • Hi Joanne,
      Form 1095-A was required to be mailed out by January 31 so you should see it any day now.
      Thank you,
      Lisa Greene-Lewis

  8. My husband is currently a federal employee and has employer provided private health insurance and Medicare, how will that be captured on our joint tax return? Also, I am a retired federal employee, paying for the same health insurance as my husband, with the premium being deducted from my federal annuity, and I have Medicare, and I am a self employed independent contractor with a federal agency, how will my coverage be captured on our joint tax return?

  9. My only income for 2014 was SSDI, and I received a subsidy for my healthcare thru the marketplace. They have sent me a 1095-A. Do I “have” to file a tax return?

      • Meaning, did you get any forms from the VA? I’m under VA care and I think I’m getting short changed by filing that both of us had ins for 2014 when only my wife was.

      • Nope, and my last comment on here was never posted. I think I will give the VA another week to send a Form 1095, then I’ll call. Technically, they have until the end of January to send them.
        And, it looks like Lisa hasn’t been on here for almost 3 weeks to answer any questions. I guess this website is kind of useless.

      • Thanks, Lisa! Another question. I had insurance through the Marketplace through August 2014 and I got my 1095-A form from them. Starting in September, I was covered by Medicare and a supplemental insurance, which I know they don’t send out 1095’s. Will there be a place on the tax form where I can show I was covered for part of the year by the Marketplace and then by Medicare??? Thank you!

      • Hi Doris,
        Yes, there will be. In TurboTax, you will be asked the questions about your insurance coverage for the year.
        Thank you,
        Lisa Greene-Lewis

    • Hi Mary,
      Yes, it does include Form 8965 and there is no additional charge for the form or any other ACA form. All forms related to the Affordable Care Act are also available for free in our Federal Free Edition and all other editions.
      Thank you,
      Lisa Greene-Lewis

    • Hi Jim,
      Your 1095-A form will be mailed from the Health Insurance Marketplace or your State Marketplace if you purchased your health insurance there.
      Thank you,
      Lisa Greene-Lewis

  10. What About those who have were eligible for the state programs that are covered such as Medicaid? Do we have to report as well?

  11. for tax planning I need to estimate my ACA subsidy. Will Turbotax have a calculator available before January 1st to aid tax planning?

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