Questions about estimating income for ACA

[disneysteve]

Hopefully I will be dropping to per diem status in a few months at which point we'll lose employer insurance and have to go through ACA. I'm really not sure how to estimate our income for the future. It will depend on a number of factors that are impossible to predict: how many per diem shifts I pick up, what our taxable investment income is, how much I make in ebay sales, etc.


If I enter a number that ends up being lower than the actual, I'm guessing we'll have to repay subsidy money at tax time. Is the opposite also true that if we overestimate and earn less, we'll get back subsidy money at tax time?

 

[Aerides]

If you overestimate and earn less, you may get an additional credit back at tax time.

If you underestimate and earn more, over payments of subsidies may be clawed back as owed taxes, also at tax time.

It all evens out in the wash. Make your best guestimate, and go on the low side if not sure. Of course, if you do it mid-year like this, the count is still your full-year income.

 

[disneysteve]

If you overestimate and earn less, you may get an additional credit back at tax time.

If you underestimate and earn more, over payments of subsidies may be clawed back as owed taxes, also at tax time.

It all evens out in the wash. Make your best guestimate, and go on the low side if not sure. Of course, if you do it mid-year like this, the count is still your full-year income.

I figured that's how it worked. Just wanted to be sure I understood the system properly. Thanks.