Question on Turbotax calculation of Health Insurance Marketplace Premium

[pmorettini]

I'm filing after having received a 1095-A for the first time and was expecting a good-sized premium credit. I haven't finished my return yet, but I've done all the income sections and most of the deductions. My in-process return is showing 0 taxable income. My 1095-A details:

Total Monthly Premiums: $23,079.24

Total Monthly Second Lowest cost Silver Plan: $20,014.44

Total Monthly advanced payment of Premium Credit: $0.00

Yet when I put all of the required info into Turbotax, it says:

Good News, your credit for your premiums was the right amount

Premium Tax Credit: $0

How much you qualify for: $0

Minus how much you got in advance as a discount: $0

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We confirmed the amount you got on your monthly

insurance premiums was the right amount (no need for adjustments): $0

How can this be????

Any assistance would be appreciated,

Phil

[AmeliesUncle]

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@pmorettini wrote:

My in-process return is showing 0 taxable income.

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Look at Form 8962 (you will need to pay first, it might just be listed as a worksheet in your situation).  What is on Line 3?

If you have trouble finding the 8962, what is on Line 11 of your Form 1040 (AGI, which in many cases will be the same as Line 3 of Form 8962)?

How many people are on your tax return (Line 1 of Form 8962)?

[pmorettini]

Hi,

Thanks for your help. I don't see a Form or worksheet 8962 -could it be called something else?

AGI is $15,495

Myself and my wife filing jointly, 25 year old disabled son as a dependent (he's not on our ACA insurance policy).

[AmeliesUncle]

It sounds weird, but unfortunately, your income is too LOW to qualify for the Premium Tax Credit.  

In order to qualify for the credit, your income needs to be between 100% and 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (there are some exceptions, but you don't appear to fit into those).  That means for a family of 3, your income had to be over $21,330.

If your State has fully expanded Medicaid, you would qualify for free Medicaid.

[pmorettini]

Thank you so much for your assistance, that is very weird.

[AmeliesUncle]

Just in case there is anything we can do ... what types of income do you have (W-2, self employment, dividends, etc.)? 

Does your tax return have a Schedule 1?  If so, are there any amounts on Lines 10-22?  And if so, how much (and which lines)?

[pmorettini]

Hi, thanks, you actually pointed me in the right direction, I really appreciate it.

But now I have a similar question about my state return (California).  Is there also a "minimum" income level to get the state credit also?  It's not exactly the same situation, but still odd. I got the premium assistance through the state as an upfront discount during the year ($5262). I actually made way less money than I had estimated, so I should easily have qualified for this discount level. Instead of qualifying for this amount of premium assistance, this is what TurboTax says:

Premium Assistance Subsidy: $0

How much you qualify for: $569

Minus how much you got in advance as a discount: $5262

How much of a difference you may have to pay back through your taxes: $4693

Repayment limitation: $600

Actual amount that you have to pay back: $600

Do you understand what's going on here? Is it a similar issue that I asked about above? CA doesn't tax some income that the Federal does (in this case unemployment income). Anything I can do about this?

Thanks again for your help.

Phil

[AmeliesUncle]

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@pmorettini wrote:

 I had some income that I could have declared as non-taxable that I just left as taxable;

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Take a step back.  Are you ALLOWED to claim that as taxable?  What type of income is it?  Unless there is a provision for it, you can't choose to say non-taxable income is now taxable.  If you were to do that without a provision for making it taxable, it would be tax fraud.

As for California, I don't know how the California laws work for that.   Sorry.