Warning to Turbotax Users who are on Obamacare

[TravelinFamilyMan]

Greetings,

Turbotax self-filers who are on an Exchange plan / Obamacare will NOT be prompted to enter in their 1095-A within Turbotax questionnaire. The 1095A shows how much premium tax credit you have received and will effect your EOY tax settlement.

Apparently, Intuit changed this after the last tax cut revision removed the penalty for those who do not have health insurance. Not a smart idea as a lot of people forgot about this form and had the IRS kick back their return, delay their refund by 6-8 weeks or have them file an amended return to update the taxes that they owe.

In Turbotax, you have to search specifically for this form. In my case alone it swung my taxes about $1,000. From a refund to a payment.

 

[SecondCor521]

That sounds like a pretty egregious error.

 

[cathy63]

Did you answer "Yes" to the question "Did You Have Any Medical Expenses in 2019?" I just tried it and it did ask me if I got a 1095-A.

 

[Bir48die]

If you are 1095B or 1095C then there is nothing to be done. If you have a 1095A with a Premium Tax Credit then you have to reconcile for the year. Otherwise what you put down doesn't matter. There is not penalty

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I did the interview and it had me fill in the form. I did answer yes to the medical expenses question.

 

[Skoach]

I did the interview and it had me fill in the form. I did answer yes to the medical expenses question.

+1

 

[ownyourfuture]

I know it will take a little longer for me to do my return, but issues like this are why I always choose 'walk me through everything' when I start.

Too easy to forget something.

 

[RobbieB]

It worked fine for me.

 

[HadEnuff]

Greetings,

Turbotax self-filers who are on an Exchange plan / Obamacare will NOT be prompted to enter in their 1095-A within Turbotax questionnaire. The 1095A shows how much premium tax credit you have received and will effect your EOY tax settlement.

Apparently, Intuit changed this after the last tax cut revision removed the penalty for those who do not have health insurance. Not a smart idea as a lot of people forgot about this form and had the IRS kick back their return, delay their refund by 6-8 weeks or have them file an amended return to update the taxes that they owe.

In Turbotax, you have to search specifically for this form. In my case alone it swung my taxes about $1,000. From a refund to a payment.

Yes, I ran into this exactly. I knew something wasn't right and when I did my final comparison to last year's return I found it. And it wasn't easy to prompt my way through the TurboTax labyrinth to get to the appropriate from. Not a favorable experience.

 

[ERD50]

If you are 1095B or 1095C then there is nothing to be done. ...

I wish they would put that right on the 1095B form. I had my list of items that I know I need, and I check them off as I enter them. But I have these 1095-Bs. What to do? Took me a while to find out, as you say... nothing.

-ERD50

 

[RobbieB]

The ACA or Exchange question brings up the 1095A

 

[TravelinFamilyMan]

It looks like the interview question was update on or around 2/20/2020. I started my taxes in TT way before then as others had too. May no longer be an issue if you start after that.

Lots of concern and discussion around this here:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/fdi-8962-depline2bem/00/1182058

Bottomline: if you have 1095A, make sure it gets covered as it didn't for many others.

 

[walkinwood]

To the OP - Many many thanks!
While I don't do the "interview" method, I forgot to deal with the 1095A form this year. You reminded me.

 

[rodi]

I did the taxes - was asked the questions that prompted the 1095 entry. (I get a PTC for my coveredCA insurance). I filed on 2/16/2020. It was rejected because TT hadn't updated all of the insurance/PTC questions. Told to update TT on 2/20 or later... which I did. The new interview question asked if any dependents were filing taxes. Since younger son worked last year and had to file to get the withholding returned - entered his income to include in the family income. This reduced the refund by a few hundred... but not the end of the world. Filed again and it was accepted, and the refund hit my checking account yesterday.

So... TT seems to be a bit inconsistent with how it handled things. FWIW - this was with TT premier non-online version.

 

[SecondCor521]

The new interview question asked if any dependents were filing taxes. Since younger son worked last year and had to file to get the withholding returned - entered his income to include in the family income. This reduced the refund by a few hundred... but not the end of the world.

You may not have needed to do this part.

Your son clearly chose to file in order to get his withholding returned; that is reasonable and understandable.

He may not have been required to file. See chart B in the Form 1040 instructions and look at your son's earned income, unearned income, and gross income to determine if he was required to file:

https://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/chart_b_for_children_and_other_dependents_4012.pdf

If he filed a return but was not required to file, then you are permitted to not list his income on your tax return for ACA purposes. That will save you a few hundred in taxes.

Read the instructions for Form 8962, line 2b very carefully.

 

[rodi]

I read that. If you recall - I was on here posting questions about how DS's income would impact our taxes... But TT and the IRS (since they initially rejected the efile because TT was updating forms) forced a redo to include his income. I was uncomfortable with not completing that form factually. It asked specifically about dependents income.

 

[SecondCor521]

I went back and reread your earlier thread. You got accurate advice from @SevenUp. You never came back and reported on that thread whether or not he was required to file. I agree that you should complete the form factually and truthfully. But I think you should complete it based on the instructions by the IRS.

The IRS instructions very clearly state whether or not you need to include his income on your return for ACA purposes:

"Line 2b
Enter on line 2b the combined modified AGI for your dependents who are required to file an income tax return because their income meets the income tax return filing threshold."

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8962.pdf (page 6)

The fact that TurboTax may or may not have had problems with their implementation of the interview or Form 8962 isn't relevant. And their forcing you to do additional work did not affect whether or not you needed to include his income. The underlying law and IRS rules have not changed.