Self employed health ins deductions with premiums paid through marketplace, where do the numbers populate to on the forms?

[gk5040]

I have a little part time self employed business.  I paid $11,332.56 in health ins premiums for 2025, This includes, Obamacare premiums plus part of the subsidy I had to pay them back ($9238) and 2026's Jan premium paid in Dec 2025 of $2069.  I entered January's premium in the expenses for my self employed business.  I asked this question on the forum and I successfully follow the replied answer.  I did not enter any health ins premiums anywhere else and I do not file Sch A.  I entered the 1095-A thru the Turbotax interview questions.  Form 7206 line 14, shows the January premium of $2069.  It says to enter this number on Schedule 1, line 17.  The number on Sch 1, line 17 is $11307, and I am not able to change it.  There is a note at the bottom of form 7206 saying "a self employed health ins adjustment of  $9238 from premiums paid through an exchange is included as an adjustment to income but does not appear on these worksheet".  Where is that adjustment?  Should any of my forms show the $11333 number for all of our 2025 premiums paid for health ins.  I am trying to understand where the deductions for health ins appear or even where the $9238 exchange premiums are deducted.  I do not see the $9238 number anywhere except as the footnote at the bottom of Form 7206.  Is Schedule 1, line 17 suppose to include both the exchange premiums and the expense premiums?  My income from my business is higher than the insurance premiums and I have no other expenses for my business.  

[ThomasM125]

I believe you mean you had to pay back excess premium tax credits of $9,238 and want to know where that shows as a deduction on your tax return. The repayment is not deductible so it will not appear as such on your tax return. You received a tax-free benefit by virtue of the premium tax credit that lowered your insurance premiums. When you pay a portion of that back, it is simply a reduction of the tax-free benefit you had in the first place, so it is not a taxable event.

[gk5040]

Let me clarify, I did not have to pay back $9263.  That is the amount I essentially paid for 2025's marketplace premiums. I still paid premiums during the year that amounted to $3500, then had to payback some of the subsidy because of inherited money counting as income, I have to pay back $5747.  So I paid $9263 in marketplace premiums for the year if you add what was already paid by me plus the part of the subsidy I have to pay back on my 2025 Federal return.  That should all be deductible, under the self employed health ins deduction.  We also paid January 2026's premium of $2069 in December 2025 so I am claiming that as an expense for my self employed business.  Form 7206 shows the $2069 on line 1 and line 14.  Line 14 says that number should be on Schedule 1 line 17 and it is not.  I am trying to figure out how to adjust schedule 1 line 17 and what that number should be.  I think it should be $9263 + $2069 = $11333.  I dont know what is generating the number on Schedule 1 line 17, I can not adjust it even if I needed to, that number is a calculation I am trying to figure out.  At the bottom of Schedule C their is a Allocable Deductions Smart Worksheet.  Line A , I changed to $11332, I am not sure if I should have done that.  Thank you in advance for your help.

[aclogan450]

I am having a similar issue. My husband and I are both self employed, each with our own business. My husband's insurance was a COBRA plan from his previous employer. His total payments were 11,245. My insurance was from a Marketplace plan. My total payments were 10,892. The combined total is 22,137. Our combined income exceeded that amount. Here's where the issue begins:

Line 14 of Form 7206 shows an SE health insurance deduction as 22,579.

Line 17 on Schedule 1 shows an SE health insurance deduction of 33,202.

Am I missing something? I feel like these two lines should be the same and and that they should be 22,137. Does it have something to do Form 1095-A? I also can't change the amount on line 17. I'm very concerned about this being a major red flag. 

I appreciate any insight you can offer.

[gk5040]

I am not a tax expert, here are my questions for you to help you find the right numbers.  

Did you only put the cobra insurance premiums in Business income and expenses, (under the wages and income tab), keep continuing thru the questions in business income and expenses until you get to business expenses, then choose "all other expenses".  Enter the cobra ins related to your self employed business there, its the 6th line down.  Do not add the marketplace ins in business expenses.   This number will then appear on form 7206, line 1, which should flow down to line 3 and then possibly line 14 of form 7206.  DO NOT enter the cobra or marketplace premiums in Deductions & Credits section of medical expenses...you would be double dipping if your file schedule A (I dont file sch A).  The marketplace number somehow magically appears on schedule 1, line 17.  If you go to form 7206 and look at the very bottom, there is a footnote....it should tell you the amount of self employed health ins premiums paid thru an exchange (marketplace) is included in income but not on these worksheets.  Does this match your marketplace premiums you paid? Next, Go to form 8962 and look at line 29.  You might have had to pay back some of your PTC, so your health ins you paid is equal to the premiums Jan thru December plus the PTC you had to payback thru your Federal return.   This number is also on Schedule 2, 1a.  

My question to Turbo Tax, which wasnt answered was on schedule c's worksheets there is allocable deductions smart worksheet.  Should line A be insurance premiums from business expenses plus the marketplace PTC plus any tax credit you owe back?  I am hoping someone reads this before 4/15!!  

I was able to get Schedule 1, line 17 to add up to the number I expected.  I had a corrected a hundred 1099B sales to reflect inherited and that literally changed my short term losses by $1, which changed my tax owed, among other numbers and changed my PTC by $2.  It was a snowball effect that took me forever to figure out.  I made an adjustment to one stock sale by $0.30 to correct the rounding up of too many sales and now my number on Schedule 1, line 17 is what I expected it to be.  I still dont know which boxes on which forms sch 1, line 17 pulls from.  If I knew this, I then I could always make sure things are correct or find my mistake quicker.  

I hope this helped you figure out why your number is different, my guess is you owe back some of your marketplace insurance premium and dont realize it.  If you can figure out form 7206, line 14, then line 17 on schedule 1 should add up for you.  We always pay January's premium in December, this year I added it to my business expenses because our new premiums are so high I wont be able to write it all off next year, I do not make that much.  My husband retired early a few years ago. We do not have cobra anymore, just the awful marketplace ins and now there is no subsidy:(  Good luck, reply back to this if you figure it out:)

[BillM223 · Accepted solution]

I can't say that I have your answers, but let me dreg up some memories of similar discussions.

First, the statement "A self-employed health insurance adjustment of $[______] from premiums paid  through an exchange is included as an adjustment to income but does not appear on these worksheets." appears at the bottom of form 7206, the Health Insurance Deduction. This was noted two or three years ago as an issue, and so far as I know, the adjustment to income still does not appear on any worksheets.

Next, if you look carefully at form 7206, and at the Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction Worksheet—Schedule 1, Line 17 in the 1040 Instructions (on..., you will see that there is a peculiar relationship between medical insurance premiums, the deductible portion of SE taxes, and contributions to Self-Employed SEP, SIMPLE, and Qualified Plans.

Simply (?) put, on the worksheet for line 17 (Schedule 1) above, you take the (A) amount of premiums that you paid for health insurance established under your self-employed business (including for spouse and dependents under age 27), and then you look at the (B) net profit from your business less (the deductible portion of the SE taxes (line 15) and the contributions to the Self-Employed SEP, SIMPLE, and Qualified Plans (line 16)), and then your health insurance deduction is the lesser of either the amounts A or B.

(Note that each line is not so simple - see the notes for the worksheet above).

For self-employed health insurance plans that are from the Marketplace, I assume that the health insurance (A) paid is the actual amount minus any PTC, which, as you know, gets calculated in the return and which can change on a whim.

It's a lot easier to see this on the worksheet at the link above.

If you have enough fingers and toes and some imagination, you will see that there can be situations where when you increase your contributions to your self-employed retirement plans, you reduce your health insurance deduction. And when you consider that the amount of PTC can vary as you vary your income, the health insurance deduction can wander all over the place for no reason to easily recognize. I am guessing that this (the variability of the PTC amount as it affects the calculation on the worksheet or on the 7206) is the "A self-employed health insurance adjustment" referred to in the second paragraph.

Now ponder this, and see if it helps any.

[aclogan450]

Thanks for this. I suspected that it was counting the Marketplace insurance twice. I entered under that insurance expense under business expenses and also entered the information from form 1095A. That would have been more obvious if the difference in the total had matched the amount that I paid for Marketplace insurance. My Marketplace insurance wasn’t subsidized so I don’t think I have to pay anything back. Guess I’ll see. I had to go out of town so I’m away from my computer. I’ll try making the change when I get back tomorrow night. 🤞

Assuming this is the issue, I really wish there had been a note on TurboTax stating that if you have marketplace insurance, don’t enter it under business expenses. They’re usually so good about this. 

Your situation sounds much more complicated. I’m sorry I can’t help you. I hope someone responds to this thread ASAP. I had high hopes!

FYI my husband found us private insurance not on the marketplace. It’s through Anthem Healthkeepers. It’s a high deductible plan but we’re used to that. The cost is less than what we were paying for his COBRA and my marketplace insurance. Our big issue was my husband needing to continue seeing an out of state doctor which isn’t an option on any marketplace plan. 

[gk5040]

Yes Bill that kind of helps.  I did notice the "self employed health ins adjustment of $____ from premium.....but does not appear on these worksheets".  That's what made me want to know where does that number appear and I can calculate it but do not see it anywhere on any form.  I wish a worksheet showed it.

I finally figured out some of my other questions due to the deadline.  I spent way too much time analyzing so many numbers.   I had to change a bunch of stock sale entries to "inherited" and I grouped them to make life easier,  none of the numbers changed but due to to rounding by TURBO TAX it increased my short term losses by $1, which changed so many numbers and ultimately affecting my taxes owed by $25.  It took me forever to find the issue, now I think the premiums add up correctly on Schedule 1, line 17.  Using your calculation was what I was originally using but the $1 of capital losses altered so many other numbers including my PTC that it made it hard to follow.  I didnt understand how my refund could change that much over a round issue.  

I do still wonder why on sch c, allocable deductions smart worksheet you are able to change line A.  It doesnt feed sch 1, line 17 but I think it should match it as long as the self employment health insurance does not exceed you self employment income minus the deduction for 1/2 SE tax.

Thank you again, I do feel confident in my numbers.

[gk5040]

I know Turbo Tax tells you not to enter marketplace insurance or self employed health premiums in Deductions & Credits medical expenses.  I just checked and when you add self employed health ins premiums to business expenses it actually says it in the blue highlighted "learn more".  But you have to open the "learn more" and it's at the very end.....It's easy to miss and since you never see the marketplace premium number again you have no idea if it was added to your self employed health ins.   I am glad it seems like I helped you locate the discrepancy.  What is odd is the number you are off is not the amount of the premiums?  Marketplace adds the premiums paid for Jan thru December, that number might be different than what you paid for health insurance in 2025 if you pay Decembers premium in January.  If your premiums increased each year, which they usually do, your premiums paid for 2025 could be slightly off from the Markeplace premium number by the difference of Decembers premium you are paying for the next year....hope that makes sense.  If you want to include January's premium paid in Dec of 2025 you need to add that to the business expenses, but next year you would have to remove that number from the Marketplace or technically you are double dipping.  Our premiums are so high now that I did add January 2026 premium we paid in December to this years self employed deduction in business expenses.  I only have a little part time job and do not make much but in the past I could just about write off all our medical premiums. Best of luck tomorrow night!