I’m self employed and last year in 2014 i made very little income. I don’t even want to mention how much it is because its basically nothing but i was told by my accountant i have to file. I also have no 1099s etc.
I was out of the usa most of 2014 and wasn’t aware of obamacare where if you didn’t had health insurance you had to pay a penalty. I haven’t had health insurance the last few years but i then heard there was a rule you had to have it or pay penalty. I basically self pay when visiting any doctor. I think they started obamacare in 2013? Anyways, when did you have to pay the obamacare health insurance in 2014? What was the date? The other thing is it true if u dont file a tax return for the year, then theres no penalty at all? I heard this but not sure if its true or not?
The thing is my accountant filed a tax extension for me earlier this year for 2014 because i was going to file late. Thing is i made very little so i wasn’t sure if i had to file but he said i do. So when he files my 2014 tax return, that is also when i will pay the obamacare penalty for the year? I read its based on 1 percent of income or $95 minimum is that true? However is this paid when you file your income taxes or am i actually suppose to pay it in 2014 for 2014? Im thinking it cant be that right since in 2014 i didn’t know what my income for the year will be? Does that mean i will just pay the $95 penalty for not having health insurance once my 2014 tax return is filed? Wouldn’t there be a bit of penalty since i didn’t file it on time for the obamacare or not? If so, how much more money is it per month assuming im paying the $95 penalty. My income for last year was below 10k. Also how much does obamacare cost a year enrolling? I most likely will pay a fine each year as oppose to enrolling but curious how much it is a year.
As of now, i didn’t buy any obamacare for 2015 either. Am i suppose to buy it now or before what date and how much is it for the year? Im really confused b/c how much does it cost to not having any health insurance. Such as pay $95 if your net income is very low or 1% of your income? But what about those that have no income at all for the year and don’t have free health insurance and don’t qualify for that? Reason i ask is b/c for this year, i basically been doing really bad moneywise and basically have no net income, just net loss. Because of this, i didn’t even care much about the obamacare health insurance thing b/c i wasn’t making any money and am out of the usa most of the time. But for those people who have no job and and have free health insurance, i assume they have no issue since they have health insurance right? I’m confused why does one have to pay a penalty for not having health insurance and why this is even a law in the first place. Also what would happen if someone say file a tax return say 5 month later for their 2014 tax return and assuming it was less than 10k. It would be 95 dollars but how much penalty does one have to pay for paying it late. My acct told me if you file extension, each month late is 0.5% but this is related to taxes. What about for the no health insurance?
I also know i owe very little taxes once my acct file my tax return b/c i made so little. However i like to know how the not having health insurance is handled in my vase.
Would like if someone can answer these questions i have.
There is an income floor beneath which you don’t have to file. I know it used to be $5000, but I’m not up on that anymore. But if you lived outside the US and made above that floor, you still have to file even if you don’t owe anything.
For Obamacare, you don’t have to have bought health insurance if you lived outside the US. I filed form 8965 (“Health Coverage Exemptions”) with my taxes. That’s what you attach to your regular tax return if you’ve been living outside the US and are exempt from the Obamacare requirement. Your accountant will probably charge you extra for that form though. I’m a bit surprised he doesn’t know about it already.
The thing was i was outside the usa for around 1/2 the year so i wasn’t out of the usa the entire year though… made mistake in my wording. It felt like most of the year.
But does the health coverage exemption apply only if you are out of the usa for the full year or 11 months of the year or how long though.
Are you going to get a tax refund? When you file will the IRS be owing you money?
The Obamacare tax penalty can only be collected by withholding it from your refund. And that is just a maybe too. They cannot place a lien upon your property, cannot turn you over to collections, garnish wages, take money from you bank account and cannot use many of the other tools that the IRS does to collect taxes owed.
Unless the IRS tries to keep part of your refund they can just pound sand. And they probably aren’t even going to deduct it from your refund.
This post in answer to a question of my own indicates you’d have to be outside the US at least 330 days of the year. Again, check with your accountant, who really ought to be up on this (assuming he’s not anything like my accountant, who is a grumpy old bastard without much patience for questions).
okay so i guess that doesn’t apply to me then.
Also what about those people who don’t file taxes for the year either because they made no money at all or lost money or what about those that are unemployed and dont have health insurance.
If your income is below the amount that requires you to file income tax, you’re exempt from the penalty. If you’re unemployed you’re not exempt (unless the unemployment means your income is below the amount)
I’d check out this website and see if any of it applies to you:
Not all states allow Medicaid for otherwise healthy low income adults. Virginia, for example, only makes Medicaid available to low income adults who are pregnant, have minor children, are blind, are disabled, or over 65 years of age.
Form 8965 allows for a month-by-month explanation of why you should be exempted. So for that period of time you were outside the US you would have been exempted. It’s just that a six month exemption does not exempt you for the entire year.
If your income was so low that you might not even be required to file at all then you almost certainly qualify for a hardship exemption for those months you were in the US.
IIRC, the penalty, if any is owed, is even prorated for those who were out of the country for part of the year.