Submitted by Justwigglin t3_1281knw in personalfinance

(Posting for my mother)

Last year I started a new job in January and I reported it to healthcare.gov, but they never changed my rates. My Husband works and makes around $60,000 and I got a job where I make around $35,000. Our healthcare premium was $350 a month. I decided to go to a tax guy this year instead of doing it myself using turbotax, and he told me that I owe $10,000 to the IRS because they never changed my healthcare to reflect me new job. So, I now owe almost a third of my entire salary from last year.

Is there anything I can do? This is going to bury me.

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ALoopIsALoop t1_jegw07r wrote

Each year I am in a similar situation. I am a freelancer and never know how much I will make in the year. On years where I hit 80-90k income, I owe 6-8k in subsidy repayment.
$10k sounds about right in subsidies that you need to pay back.
You can get another tax guy, but you will still owe something.

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wijwijwij t1_jeh4ypo wrote

File Married Filing Separately.

Then you aren't eligible for premium tax credit, but the repayment limitation seen in Table 5 of the Form 8962 instructions applies because your income would be under 400% FPL for a 1-person tax household. Repayment for someone with 35K income (271% FPL) would be limited to $1650.

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Individual_Brick5537 t1_jeh2kci wrote

You should use Turbotax to do your own - it doesn't cost anything until you file. That way you can double check the numbers, make sure the math is right. It probably is - but it's worth checking.

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TempAccount032023 t1_jegt2hx wrote

Get a different tax guy. You reported your income change. I hope you can prove that.

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BaltimoreBee t1_jegwfie wrote

It doesn’t matter at all whether or not she reported an income change during the year. Regardless of what was reported or not reported, a premium tax reconciliation has to take place. If she received more premium tax in advance than her final income qualifies her for, she has to pay it back. There are limits and safe harbors in the tax code so she might not have to pay it all back. But what income change was reported to the marketplace is completely irrelevant to what premium tax calculation being done by the IRS and there is not a way to challenge it.

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Justwigglin OP t1_jegthp6 wrote

I think she should get a second opinion as well. I honestly don't know if she can prove that she told them. She probably just called them, and she did not record the call or anything.

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TempAccount032023 t1_jegus7s wrote

That’s going to be the point of contention. Is there an online portal of state medical insurance where you are? We use CoveredCA here. That would have any record of income change.

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Justwigglin OP t1_jeguzxq wrote

There is just healthcare.gov and her healthcare website (she is caresource). I'll have her look at her healthcare.gov site.

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