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Post by its me mg on May 12, 2015 21:18:44 GMT
I was covered under the ACA when I was a waitress. I enrolled in the marketplace in February when it opened, and took a tax credit that reflected my income. I cancelled it in September when I was hired on as a manager and received my benefits. Now, Uncle Sam has penalized me for getting a better job, and I had to give half of the tax credit back, even though at the time I was truly in need of it, and un-enrolled the second I didn't need it. Kind of irritating!
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gsquaredmom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,086
Jun 26, 2014 17:43:22 GMT
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Post by gsquaredmom on May 12, 2015 21:20:47 GMT
So you had it for about half the year and gave half the yearly subsidy back? Mmmhhhh.
Maybe I am missing something?
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Post by its me mg on May 12, 2015 21:27:50 GMT
I had it for 6 months ... they gave me a $1,200 tax credit for those 6 months ... but then they are asking for $643.00 of it back!
My plan would have cost $2,743.00 Out of Pocket ... Thanks to Obama Care I only spent $1,832.48. The difference is a tax credit of $1,256.00.
I got a letter in the mail telling me to submit a form, I re-submitted, and they are taking $643.00 back for the ACA.
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Post by roxley on May 12, 2015 21:33:51 GMT
I think it is based on your income for the YEAR. So if your year's income was more than you figured your premiums on, then they refigure with the correct income. I think this was probably a mess for a lot of people. You are basically guessing what you are going to make.
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johnnysmom
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,682
Jun 25, 2014 21:16:33 GMT
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Post by johnnysmom on May 12, 2015 21:58:22 GMT
Yep. Well, probably, we're still waiting on our @$#!%$% tax form  Had to file an extension. But I expect that will happen to us as well. Dh got laid off last Jan, got a job in April but didn't get insurance till June so we had several months where we got a credit, I'm assuming we will have to pay it back. I'm not so upset about having to repay it (though I wish they would have told us when we enrolled, I would have estimated higher), but I'm highly pissed off that we haven't gotten our form yet (and yes, I've called more than once, it's not online either). |
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Post by its me mg on May 12, 2015 22:02:24 GMT
That's so frustrating, because I needed it at the time!! I got penalized for getting off of assistance, I just don't "get" it.
Are you in California? I was able to go onto Covered California and I had a message in my "inbox", and it was a PDF copy of my tax credit form.
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raindancer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,095 
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Post by raindancer on May 12, 2015 22:08:27 GMT
I agree with you, it's frustrating and doesn't make sense.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 28, 2024 6:33:50 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2015 22:56:35 GMT
You aren't being penalized for getting a better job. You are being asked to give back the portion of the given credit that you didn't use. They gave you a credit for the full year. You used half the year so you owe them back for the half a year you didn't need the credit.
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Post by eebud on May 12, 2015 23:03:27 GMT
Your subsidy is determined based on your income for the year. When you signed up, you gave them a number that is what your income for the year was expected to be. Your subsidy was based off of this income amount. If you then made more, you will owe some of the subsidy back. Your income might have been lower in the first half of the year but your final annual income was much higher than the amount you expected to make so the subsidy they paid during the first 6 months was more than you would have received if you had reported the higher annual income from the beginning. The thing is, the income you reported IS what you expected at the time because you didn't know you were going to make more money but that doesn't matter. The fact is, you DID make more money so you were not entitled to as much of a subsidy as they gave you. I think they have put a limit on how much they can get back when you make more income but I am not sure of the specifics on this.
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Post by eebud on May 12, 2015 23:14:58 GMT
One other comment.................subsidy having to be paid back is hitting a lot of people with 2014 tax returns. You are not alone.
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Post by its me mg on May 12, 2015 23:27:58 GMT
What ya'll are saying makes sense, it just caught me off guard. Shoulda known.
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Post by tarheelgurl on May 12, 2015 23:50:01 GMT
I am retired and on a fixed income. The only change in my income was the $14 monthly cost of living increase on my Social Security. I had OCare from March-December. My subsidy was $604 and my BCBS premium was $80 a month. When I had my taxes done I had to pay back $61 of that subsidy. My tax preparer told me if I had it for the entire year I would have had to repay $1200. So glad my procrastination saved me this time.
It seems like your damned if you do and you're damned if you don't have the coverage. They'll get that money out of us one way or another whether it's a fine or a repayment.
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Post by gypsymama on May 12, 2015 23:56:45 GMT
my ds21 is a full time college student, lives at home and works PT at his school - work study, he's paying almost 100 a month for his cheapie insurance and there was no mention of subsidies or credits or anything... i guess b/c we counted all of us as one household, since he lives here. feel like we got screwed big time.
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Post by christine58 on May 13, 2015 0:31:21 GMT
You aren't being penalized for getting a better job. You are being asked to give back the portion of the given credit that you didn't use. They gave you a credit for the full year. You used half the year so you owe them back for the half a year you didn't need the credit. Exactly...why would you get a full year when you only needed it for 6 months??? |
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Post by eebud on May 13, 2015 0:45:01 GMT
You aren't being penalized for getting a better job. You are being asked to give back the portion of the given credit that you didn't use. They gave you a credit for the full year. You used half the year so you owe them back for the half a year you didn't need the credit. Exactly...why would you get a full year when you only needed it for 6 months??? I don't think that what volt posted is correct. I think the subsidy is determined on a monthly basis...........how much lower your monthly premium will be because of the subsidy. I believe the way it works is if they determine you are eligible for $1200 in subsidies for the year based on the income you tell them you expect to make, your premium would be reduced by $100 a month. If OP stopped the ACA insurance 6 months into the year, she would have received $600 in subsidies at that point. My numbers are obviously made up. At the end of the year, if the income actually made determines that you were really only eligible for $1000 for the year, that would mean you were only eligible for $500 for the first 6 months but were paid $600 so would owe $100 back. The amount for the 2nd half of the year was never received so it is not owed back but the overpayment for the first half of the year is owed. |
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JustTricia
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,835
Location: Indianapolis
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Post by JustTricia on May 13, 2015 1:17:22 GMT
Taxes only look at your annual income, it doesn't get broken down into months. The IRS only sees you made (hypothetically) $100,000 for the year, not 10,000 the first six months and 90,000 the second. All they see is that they overpaid for the year, not that you used it the first half.
And I'm surprised that people didn't know it would be owed back. When I applied it stated how much I was eligible for and I got to choose how much to use. It also said on that screen that if my income was higher than I had estimated I'd owe the difference back.
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on May 13, 2015 1:24:46 GMT
Taxes only look at your annual income, it doesn't get broken down into months. The IRS only sees you made (hypothetically) $100,000 for the year, not 10,000 the first six months and 90,000 the second. All they see is that they overpaid for the year, not that you used it the first half. And I'm surprised that people didn't know it would be owed back. When I applied it stated how much I was eligible for and I got to choose how much to use. It also said on that screen that if my income was higher than I had estimated I'd owe the difference back. Right, I read the same thing. My income was lower than anticipated... thanks to an employer who paid me when she felt like it and still owes me money from last year, which will probably screw up my subsidy this year!! One thing that I noticed when filing this year is the form you file for the tax subsidy is reported month by month. |
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Had to file an extension. But I expect that will happen to us as well. Dh got laid off last Jan, got a job in April but didn't get insurance till June so we had several months where we got a credit, I'm assuming we will have to pay it back. I'm not so upset about having to repay it (though I wish they would have told us when we enrolled, I would have estimated higher), but I'm highly pissed off that we haven't gotten our form yet (and yes, I've called more than once, it's not online either).
