Help! The IRS says I need to fill out a 8962 but TurboTax says I don't. I don't have a 1095.

[Aleckswest]

Okay so I filed my taxes back in March and I still have not received my federal return. When I contacted the IRS, they said they had sent me a letter in the mail, which I never received, stating I needed to complete an 8962 but when I filed through TurboTax, and when I try to "amend my 2017 return" as suggested through other forums, TurboTax still says I don't need to do anything and won't help me with an 8962. TurboTax had me complete an 8885 (Health Coverage Tax Credit) and had me print, fill out, and send any necessary related forms after filing, in the mail to the IRS which I did the same day I submitted my taxes.

When I try to fill out an 8962 through the PDF filler through the IRS, some of the info I need is supposed to come from my 1095a form, which when I look back at my submitted tax return, I do not have a 1095a (or b or c). 

These are the other related issues: I was employed and had private health insurance I paid for through my job for the first 6 months of the year. Then I lost my job and was on medicaid (which I did not apply for myself - a nurse did when I was admitted to a hospital with no health coverage and then I was surprised when I "all of a sudden" had medicaid) for the remaining 6 months of the year while I started a small business and was self employed. When I view my 2017 tax return, these are all of the forms it says I submitted for federal: 8453 (Individual Income Tax Transmittal for an IRS e-file Return), 1040 (Individual Income Tax Return), 4797 (Sales of Business Property), 2106-EZ (Unreimbursed Employee Business Expenses), 8885 (Health Coverage Tax Credit).

What am I doing wrong, what am I missing here? It's been over 3 months and I still can't get my federal refund until I submit an 8962 but I can't complete the info (specifically lines 12-23 in part 2) without a 1095a, which I don't have. This healthcare tax credit is a huge part of my return that I desperately need. What do I do?? 

[AJ]

The facts presented here are confusing.  I will try to provide information to help.  First, you will not get a Form 1095-A unless you had health coverage through the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) health insurance exchange.  The Form 8962 is intended to resolve over and underpayments with regard to the insurance subsidy for that program.  If you did not have any ACA Obamacare insurance, then you should not need Form 8962.   You state that you were covered for  all 12 months--6 months on employer insurance and 6 months on Medicaid.  Most Medicaid programs meet requirements for minimum essential coverage under the ACA rules.  So I would expect that your return would have checked the block that you had qualifying insurance for 12 months and you would be done with ACA issues.  If you did not have qualifying insurance for 12 months, then Form 8965 is needed.  You state that you completed, Form 8885 for Health Coverage Tax Credit.  This is confusing because if you were truly on Medicaid then you are not eligible for the Health Coverage Tax Credit. Please review requirements related to the Form 8885 because I suspect that is what is causing the problem.  See https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/hctc

[Aleckswest]

Thank you SO much for responding to me, AJ. You were extremely helpful. I went back through the "amend" section to reread the 1095-A health insurance tax credits section for the 40th time. I answered yes to this question when I should have answered no:

Were you covered by any of these plans in 2017?

• Healthcare.gov plan
• Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare)
• Connect for Health Colorado
• A plan that sent or will send a 1095-A
• Another state's Marketplace plan
  

My medicaid came through Connect for Health Colorado but I didn't realize it's still a "no" if you have medicaid through it. I guess when I filled out and submitted the 8885, I might have filled out information from my employer insurance I previously had for the first half of the year, by mistake. 

So after googling what I should do now, I'm getting conflicting information. Some people are saying to go ahead and amend the return through turbotax (the amount at the top says $0 and turbotax is saying that means nothing's changed with my original return amount?), some are saying that the IRS will either find the error or automatically send out an adjusted return without the 8885 form/credit, and some suggestions are to call the IRS and tell them I filed an 8885 form by mistake and adjust it through them because it is/could be an easy fix and you don't want to go through an amended return. Do you have a suggestion on how to proceed?

[AJ]

Unfortunately, I am not expert enough to give you a definitive answer. When there is a change in tax liability or refund amount, then you should normally amend to get the books balanced (unless the IRS does it automatically for you).  So if there is a net change of zero dollars to your IRS account, then some things really don't matter much.  As you noted, the IRS often corrects things without you needing to take action.  From your words, I'm interpreting that your 8885 did not result in any monetary credit to you.  But if it did result in crediting money to you, then there might still be an issue to resolve.  You can get an account with IRS.gov to see information on your account.  Go to IRS.gov and click "View Your Account". The you get to click "View Your Account" again on the 2nd page. In the "Sign Up" section, select "Create Account", and you will be prompted to verify your identity.  If you are lucky, the account can be set up quickly.  But if there is an issue with identity (and there often is), then the IRS will mail you additional information to complete the registration. (Don't feel bad if they have to complete the process by mail.  I had to do that too. It might take a week or two to set it up.)  But once you have your own account, then you can see a lot of what is happening with your account. You can always write the letter if you want.  But as long as you filed, and as long as you don't owe anything, there is rarely a problem that becomes significant.   I provide one item of caution to people in your situation.  Because you might be expecting an IRS contact, do not (repeat do not) become a victim of a fraud.  The IRS will never contact you by phone or by email.  The IRS will never threaten you.  So if you get any telephone calls claiming to be IRS, just hang up.  If you get threatening emails, do not click on anything.  But do read and respond to IRS correspondence that you receive through the U.S. Mail.

[samlloyd65]

I'm in a similar situation. TurboTax kept asking for my 1095, but I never received one. I contacted healthcare.gov and they said they didn't provide 1095 forms for the kind of personal plan I had. They sent an itemized summary of payments I made, but it's not a 1095, so...

I need to file! This is extremely stressful and frustrating, as I don't have any idea how to proceed, and I'm concerned about the possibility of mounting interest and fines.