Head of Household - Dependent Health Insurance

[MJani18]

Hello,

I am filing for the year 2018 and have a question on the penalty for not having health insurance. My mother lived with me for the entire year and I took care of all her needs. I am filing as the Head of Household filing status. My mother did not have any health insurance as she has no earnings. The tax form indicates a penalty for someone who did not have insurance. However, there were no affordable plans for the little income my mother has. I had insurance all year through my employer. Do I have to pay for the Health Insurance penalty for my mother if I am filing as HOH?

Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

maybe.  the law required health insurance for you and for anyone you could or did claim as a dependent.  however, you may qualify for a coverage exception requiring form 8965

i have provided a link see page 3 for coverage exceptions  https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8965.pdf

the most likely one is the coverage considered unaffordable. the minimum amount for premiums, your's included that is not paid by your employer, would be more tha 8.05% of household income.  

[AmeliesUncle]

Because she is your dependent on your tax return, the "affordable" calculation is based on YOUR income.

[MJani18]

IRS states that you need to cover more than 50% of the dependent's cost. With food, housing, recreation and medical expenses already covered, does medical insurance also needs to be paid for?

Below is the text i copied from the IRS website which cites a similar example. I appreciate your feedback and thoughts.

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2019_publink[phone number removed]

[VictoriaD75]

Medical insurance doesn't need to be paid for, but it is included in the calculation for determining support. When considering whether or not you are contributing more than half of the support of a dependent, qualified medical expenses are part of the calculation. Medical insurance is considered a qualified medical expense. 

The IRS has created the following worksheet for determining support:

IRS Worksheet for Determining Support