The Grays Harbor Herald had the pleasure of sitting down with Aberdeen H&R Block Office Manager Michel Gallegos, as well as Tax Associate Bookkeeper Kimberly Edwards about how to better prepare the Grays Harbor Herald's readership for tax season.
"I think the first thing when you're talking about the Affordable Care Act is that you have to emphasize if anybody has medical insurance through the marketplace that they cannot do their taxes until they have their 1095-A," said Gallegos. "The marketplace" that Gallegos refers to is subsidized medical coverage for people who have health insurance through the Affordable Healthcare Act (Obamacare), and do not have health coverage from their employer or through private insurance companies. The 1095-A document that Gallegos refers to is a Health Insurance Marketplace Statement, and you will only get one if you or anyone in your household enrolled in a health plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace in 2015. Anybody who should be getting a 1095-A can start to look for it in the mail around anytime after February 1, and if you have a 1095-A, you are potentially eligible for the premium tax credit. The premium tax credit is a form of government payment that goes towards part of your insurance, and the amount is dependent on what your income is for the year. "When you file your tax return for 2015 if you have participated in the marketplace you cannot file cause we need to reconcile the premium tax credit, we have to make sure that either you got enough credit or that they over paid you," said Gallegos.
The IRS is requiring all people wanting to file their income tax, who have insurance through their employer, insurance company or government health plan to either wait for their 1095-B, which is slated to be released March 31, or just have proof of insurance. If you have your insurance through your employer, or through government health plans, then you can still come in and file your tax return as long as you have proof of insurance. This is different from last year because they did not need proof of insurance. "Unfortunately an insurance card is not the best proof of insurance because they do not say what date you have been covered from and what date you are covered until," explained Gallegos. Again, alternate forms of insurance include 2015's last paycheck stub, a letter from your employer that states when you started to be insured, and when you are slated to be insured until, or even a letter faxed from your insurance company that states the date that you were insured from as well as the date that you will be insured until.
If you are insured by an Applicable Large Employer (or ALE, any employer with 50 or more full time employees), the 1095-C will come out in January, much like the 1095-A. All of the same procedures and rules apply to the 1095-C that apply to the 1095-A.
Gallegos noted to "always feel free to ask questions, it's usually what people feel is overwhelming. Some of the things we can explain will really benefit people. We are always here to answer questions without a charge. You can call us, or come into the office," said Gallegos.
Some last important things to note: anybody that is on the tax return, must have health insurance. If you do not provide health insurance for one person in the household, everyone in the household gets fined. It's $325 per adult, and can grow if your income is higher. You also cannot file you taxes until you have your W-2 form.