If you didn’t have health insurance in 2015, you might now owe a penalty on your taxes for not being covered. However, about 70% of uninsured Americans may qualify for an exemption from the tax penalty on their 2015 taxes. Nearly three in four uninsured TurboTax filers have claimed an exemption from the individual health care mandate tax penalty as of Jan. 31, according to recent data from TurboTax.
The penalty for having gone without health insurance in 2015 is $325 per adult and $162.50 per child (up to $975 for a family) or two percent of household income, whichever is greater. Did you know that about 300,000 people who paid the penalty last year likely qualified for an exemption last year, according to the IRS? No worries, we got you covered here.
With the penalty nearly doubling this year, it’s more important that ever to see if you qualify for an exemption from a tax penalty. The good news is that TurboTax is here to help by scanning information in your tax return to automatically give you affordability exemptions based on your income. You can also apply for one of the many hardship exemptions through your state Marketplace or the Health Insurance Marketplace.
If you were uninsured last year, make sure you check to see if you can qualify for a health insurance exemption!