What’s up with the Tax Form 1095?
Taxes are confusing enough without putting healthcare in the mix. My goal is to provide information that will make filing taxes less taxing. Since the inception of the Affordable Care Act, we now have a new form to turn in for our taxes – the Tax Form 1095. There are three different versions of the tax form 1095: 1095-A, 1095-B, 1095-C.
If you are employed with a large company (50 or more employees) you will receive a tax form 1095-C. Your employer is responsible for providing the tax form 1095-C form to their employees. This form should be kept in your tax records, but it is not necessary when filing taxes for 2015.
The tax form 1095-B is provided to covered members who obtained insurance in the following ways:
• Purchased an individual health plan directly from a carrier (you did not purchase through healthcare.gov)
• Received individual coverage from a Government agency such as Medicare or CHIP (children’s healthcare insurance plan – example, Peach-care)
• Received group coverage from an employer who is not required to provide a 1095-C, generally with less than 50 employees.
Health Insurance Carriers will be mailing out the tax form 1095-B form starting at February 1, 2016. Like the 1095-C, you should keep the 1095-B with your tax documents, but it is not necessary when filing your taxes in 2015.
Here comes the fun part. If you purchased a health plan though the marketplace, healthcare.gov, you will receive a tax form 1095-A. You will need this form to complete the tax form 8962. The Marketplace will be mailing this to everyone who purchased health insurance from the Marketplace in 2015. If you have not received it or would like to download it before it is mailed to you, the forms are available in your marketplace account. As mentioned above, the 1095-A form is used to complete the Premium Tax Credit Form 8962. This form is used to reconcile advance payments of the premium tax credit or to claim the tax credit on your tax return. If you go to IRS website, there is a link to the 8962 form on the IRS home page. You can also visit https://www.healthcare.gov/tax-form-1095/ to see a sample 1095-A form and instructions on how to complete the Tax Credit Form 8962. Without the 1095-A form you will not be able to complete your 2015 taxes.
Your tax form 1095-A form is completed by the health insurance marketplace based on data obtained from your health insurance plan. The Marketplace will be mailing out tax form 1095-B forms starting February 1, 2016. If your household information did not change throughout 2015, your form should be complete and correct. If changes were made to your household information on your marketplace application, (income, household size, etc) then I would highly recommend double checking the information provided on your tax form 1095-A form. If the information is incorrect, there is a simple solution. You can call the Marketplace at 1-800-318-2596 and let them know that the information on your 1095-A is incorrect. They will be more than happy to provide you the correct information for your tax form 1095-A. You will also need to request an amended form from the health insurance marketplace. If you made changes to your household throughout the year, there may be more than one form with your account. Make sure that you have downloaded all available forms if you print your forms from the health insurance marketplace.
Brandy Carroll
