health insurance and taxes; can anybody help me figure this crap out?
(Sorry if this isn't the right place for this; I'll take it down if it's not.) I hope someone here can help with this because I don't know what to do and I'm guessing most people here have already filed their 2015 tax returns. I looked online and none of the free tax prep help places around here do anything with the ACA stuff.
So, with the ACA and income tax returns for 2015 there's some new forms that people need to receive and fill out. This is my understanding of it so far:
Form 1095-A comes from the health insurance Marketplace, if you have an insurance plan through there. It shows your monthly premium, your monthly subsidy if you got one, and how much you paid for the premium.
Form 1095-B comes from your employer, and should show the same basic info as 1095-A.
Form 1095-C also comes from your employer, and has codes on it for what kind of insurance plan you had. You should get both 1095-B and C if you had insurance through your work.
Then there's Form 8962, where you use the info from the 1095 forms to fill it out.
I have 1095-A forms, as we had a Marketplace plan for the entire year. (They screwed it up, but that's irrelevant right now. Supposedly it's been fixed, but I haven't gotten it in the mail yet and haven't logged in to download it yet.)
My work started offering health insurance starting September 1st last year. Except they weren't taking anything out of my paychecks for it for a couple of months, and I had to keep pestering them about it to figure out what was going on. Meanwhile I kept our Marketplace plan, since I didn't know if I could use my work plan or not.
It eventually got straightened out, but I have yet to get the 1095-B or 1095-C forms. A guy from corporate dropped off a bunch of 1095-C forms a few weeks ago, but I didn't get one. Supposedly they're going to send me another one but we don't need to file it with our taxes, just keep it for our records.
I kept trying to tell my GM what 1095-B was and that it's supposed to come from our employer also; he talked to HR and apparently they claim we don't need them because only certain kinds of plans need them. (???) I talked to the same HR person one day who said it would be coming from our payroll company (Payroll Experts). But I think they're wrong, and we're supposed to get these forms by tomorrow.
So nobody at my work knows anything about it. The only reason I know about it is because there was a diary at TOS about form 8962 a while ago. So I looked up more about it and the IRS isn't putting out good information either; they didn't penalize people last year for not having the proper forms, but this year they will be.
I wrote on TOS about how I felt like my work was purposely trying to screw me over because I used FMLA last year for depression. I have no way to prove it of course. I work at a franchise location now but our insurance is through corporate. I have no idea if that makes a difference with the 1095-B. I have a traditional plan, not an HSA. I have no idea how to fill out 8962; the instructions on it are very vague. I do know how much was taken out of my paycheck each month for it at least. I'm sure our CEO would love a chat with the IRS though!
Any tax experts here? I don't want to go to H&R Block this year or any other tax prep place, since they're expensive and I know we're going to have to pay back part or all of our subsidy again anyway.
Comments
No worries about the diary
I too have not done my taxes, because of medical. I received forms affirming that I have health insurance, which I assume are used to show compliance with ACA. I use tax software and have been procrastinating. I plan to have my first pass done by Monday. Message me and I'll tell you what I find out.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
Thanks.
I'll probably have a go at it this weekend too. I've been procrastinating too because I thought we had to have 1095-B at least, and with the move I didn't want to have too many things going on.
This shit is bananas.
Health ins
The IRS takes your word for it if you say "Yes, I had health insurance." You don't need a form.
Feel the Bern!
Well... here is what I know, which isn't much
My husband and I are both covered by BCBS though my work. We have had insurance all year. We finally got the correct forms that show this just last week. We kept getting updates from the accounting department, saying they were working with ADP to correct some major issues with providing the forms, but it was their understanding that it was a "qualified plan" so we just would get the "c" form only, and that we didn't need the forms in hand to go ahead and file our taxes.
That turns out to be correct. I did our taxes in late Feb. using TurboTax and it had a single page on health insurance. "Were you and your spouse covered by a qualified plan all year?" -- "Yes." --OK, done. Let's move on. We filed our taxes a few weeks before getting the actual forms from my work, which we just put into the folder of documentation in case of an audit.
So... first I don't think your employer is necessarily screwing you over; this is apparently a challenge for a lot of businesses to provide the forms. As for tax prep services, I think turbotax is pretty great. You can fill out your entire form and see what it comes up with before you decide to spend a penny to file your taxes through them. I find it well worth it, the interface prompts for every possible situation and figures out what forms you need, all for reasonable price compared too an accountant or service. Just my experience... good luck.
Thanks; that actually helps a lot!
My MIL always uses TurboTax. We should be ok to use it too. I did read somewhere that you don't necessarily need to have the 1095-B and C forms to do them; I just want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row and everything is so confusing. I hate places like H&R Block because they just do everything and don't tell you HOW they're doing it. Last year we ended up owing; I read somewhere also that 2/3 of people who filed with HRBlock last year and had Marketplace plans had to pay back part or all of their subsidies. I don't know how it would work since for the last four months of the year I had insurance both through the Marketplace and through work. :/
This shit is bananas.
Paying back subsidies was caused by income underestimation
The subsidy is based upon the individual's estimate of future earnings. If you made more, you are entitled to less subsidy.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
That's what worries me.
Last year we made about $5000 over what I estimated. In 2014 we made just barely under what I estimated and we still had to pay part of it back. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. And it's a stupid system; who thought basing subsidies on a guess of your future income was a good idea in the first place?! Arrg.
This shit is bananas.
its an absolute nightmare for
its an absolute nightmare for self employed people.
My thoughts... don't ever go to H&R Block, blegh. IF need, use a small local Ma and Pa type CPA, you can find 'em, ask your friends or neighbors. But you probly don't need that if you can manage with Turbo Tax. I quit TurboTax last year cuz they hiked their prices. Switched to similar but cheaper one TAXAct but you're probly fine with TT. We need the fancy version since we do the Schedule C. (Hub is both normal job plus self employed.) Turbo Tax is very easy and user friendly though.
Sorry, no ideas for you on the rest of it, hub has coverage from his full time job and for me and KidLib just suck it up pay the tax (i.e. penalty, er, shared responsibility fee as the Orwellians call it). Ouch.
Just do your best and file it BEFORE THE DEADLINE no matter what, you can always amend your return later, if need. You have three years to do that.
Places like H&R Block and Liberty Tax are a rip off
in my view. They hire people with no tax background and train them to ask you questions and fill in a program very much like turbotax. The person sitting on the other side of the desk quite likely doesn't know any more than you about taxes. I realized this after we went to Liberty Tax for about three years, until one year the whole session was absurd, it was painfully clear that the person working there "doing our taxes" had no idea what they were doing, except filling in a software form. And frankly not doing even that very well.
I thought this is ridiculous, I can do that FFS! What are we paying them for?!? Then at the end of it they determined we owed fairly large payments to both the state and IRS, plus a couple of hundred dollars for their "work" to do this.
I said no, if we have to pay that much then I will do the taxes myself on turbotax and at least save a bit of money there. So I came home and sat down right then and did the forms online and turbotax found deductions they hadn't mentioned, which saved us a few hundred dollars on our state taxes! Never again would I set foot in one of those tax places. If I should need an accountant, I will hire a real one.
So I've been using turbotax ever since, and I truly do not trust those quickie tax services. Some of them might be ok, but a lot are just a joke. Steer clear! And again, good luck on the taxes. I agree it seems unnecessarily complicated and feels intimidating and frustrating to file taxes, no wonder people hate them so much and feel they need to hire "experts" to help. There must be a better way.
Online, not free, but cheap
I used the online service, Tax Act to do 1040. It cost me @$25. I have used it for several years. If you use it, use the Explorer browser. Logging on can be a nightmare, but it keeps your info and autofills it in subsequent years. Oh, and you can file online, and have your refund automatically deposited in your bank account. Pay by debit or credit card. Don't get hooked by the payday loan type scam or by paying from your tax refund.
Feel the Bern!
Woah, Daenerys. My condolences. It read like gobbledygook
to this Canadian. I couldn't understand anything but the word "taxes." I'm flabbergasted at what you folks have to do. All I can say is hope for Bernie or move to Canada. Healthcare is universal and free, except for meds, for which every province has a medicare-like help for folks on low income. Filling i taxes is easy. We just add up the costs of the uninsured portion (10 or 20% or so) of meds and medical devices, put it on the tax form and it reduces our taxes by a third or so.
I am so sorry for what you go through and I sure hope folks here can help you figure it out. Best wishes,
Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.
1095 forms
Daenerys - there are 3 different forms: the 1095-As, which as you know are for Exchange plans. 1095-B forms are for employer sponsored insurance plans that your employer buys from an insurer, like Aetna. 1095-C forms are also for employer sponsored insurance plans but the employer is self-insured - the vendor simply administers the plans on the employer's behalf. Ask your HR Department whether or not your medical plan is self-insured. If so, they will provide a 1095-C. If not, they'll provide a 1095-B.
Because the IRS was very late in finalizing the 1095 B and C forms, most of the software companies and vendors were late in delivering the forms to employers, and thus to employees. They must be postmarked by March 31, but you do not need the B and C forms to file your taxes. All you need is your 1095-A.
I work in communications for a large self-insured employer - my area of focus is benefits communications. We've really struggled to get these forms to employees, and we've been working at it since October 2015. So don't feel singled out.
I agree that the 8962 form is a nightmare. I got to fill one out for my nephew's wife (somehow benefits communications translates to "knowing about benefits!) I got through it by keeping a browser open to the IRS instructions page. I believe that tax prep software may make it easier, but since I had employer sponsored insurance all year, I have no knowledge of that.
Oh, good!
It was months ago I read the diary about form 8962 and haven't seen any updates since. So basically it will be the same as last year, it sounds like.
I'm still confused about how they figure out if you owe part of your subsidies back, but Turbo Tax should work well enough for us.
Thanks!
This shit is bananas.