Thursday, July 2, 2015

Obamacare Penalty Can Top $12,000

With the Affordable Care Act having survived a key legal challenge, individuals who don’t have health insurance should make sure they are prepared to pay penalties that can add up to thousands of dollars.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday the Obama administration can continue to subsidize health-insurance purchases by lower-income Americans across the country through tax credits. That decision preserves a centerpiece of the law widely known as Obamacare. At issue were credits for people in about three dozen states that didn’t set up their own online insurance marketplaces and instead directed residents to the federal HealthCare.gov.
As a result, many people who don’t have qualifying health coverage will owe a “shared responsibility payment” that is in effect an extra tax.
This penalty took effect in 2014, but this year it’s substantially higher. Taxpayers owe either a flat assessment or a percentage of income, whichever is higher. Roberton Williams, a tax specialist with the Tax Policy Center in Washington, says the percentage method will apply to virtually all higher-income households and even many households with total income less than $50,000.
Read the rest of the story HERE.

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