Turbotax 2021 1095-A Step-By-Step Missing Info

[rskham01]

I usually enter info only for the topics that  are relevant to me. This time around, I had a hell of a time trying to find where to enter 1095 info. The wizard fired during the federal review and then disappeared once I entered information for the policy. And then it automatically added the premium credit without bothering to check if I qualified or not. In fact, there was no place to enter covered members at all. In my case, not all family members are covered. I had to go and dig up the form in form view and was able to confirm that covered recipient info was indeed missing. I happen to know that we don't qualify for the health insurance premium tax credit.

I have Turbotax premier. What do I do next? Who to contact?

Thanks.

[MayaD]

The premium tax credit – also known as PTC – is a refundable credit that helps eligible individuals and families cover the premiums for their health insurance purchased through the Health Insurance Marketplace. To get this credit, you must meet certain requirements and file a tax return with Form 8962, Premium Tax Credit.

To enter form 1095-A  Health Insurance Marketplace Statement :

1. Log in to your account. 
2. Go to Federal Taxes.
3. Go to Deductions and Credit.
4. Scroll down to Medical and click show more.
5. Go to Affordable Care Act (Form 1095-A).

[rskham01]

Thanks for your response.

Unfortunately, it doesn't address my issue. I am aware of the eligibility requirements. I am trying to point out that Turbotax does not check these or allow me to enter information regard to who is covered by my 1095. There don't appear to be any screens in the 1095 walkthrough that ask any questions about employer coverage either. I am using the Premier desktop product.

[rskham01]

For additional context, I have purchased coverage thru the CA marketplace for my wife and son. While my wife is offered coverage by her employer, this is exorbitantly priced and so I chose to buy coverage at the marketplace. The 1095 that I have received only covers my wife and son but I have no way of entering this info on any turbotax screen. Instead, after entering what info I can ( policy number and pricing for each month), I am presented with a screen that says that I have qualified for the premium tax credit and this automatically applied to my taxes. My understanding is that because my wife has been offered coverage through her employer, we do not qualify for the premium tax credit.

I would be ecstatic if somebody could authoritatively that I am wrong about the eligibility requirement.

[RaifH]

It depends what you mean by "exorbitantly priced." According to Form 8962 instructions, "the coverage offered by your employer is generally considered affordable for you and the members of your tax family allowed to enroll in the coverage if your share of the annual cost for self-only coverage, which is sometimes referred to as the “employee required contribution,” is not more than 9.83% of your household income."

In other words, if your wife's self-only coverage would have cost more than 9.83% of the total household income, then it would not be considered affordable and she would qualify for premium tax credits. 

You probably won't be able to exclude your wife using this rule, but you can do the math yourself to figure out if you qualify. If she does not qualify, your child would still be eligible for marketplace coverage, but you would have to calculate Column B, the second lowest cost silver plan, as if he were the only member of the family. Presumably, the amount reported on your 1095-A includes only your wife and son in column B.

If your wife does not qualify for the exemption, you can try to contact Covered CA to issue a corrected 1095-A that would have the correct Column B amounts. They might just tell you to calculate it yourself. I could not find a calculator on the California website, and the federal calculator does not include California since they operate their own marketplace. But you can get an idea of what the SLCSP would be without your wife, and chances are once you use that number it would result in you not receiving any premium tax credit.

[rskham01]

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

I am somewhat familiar with the eligibility criteria and know that cost for self-only coverage does not exceed the threshold for afforability. This means that we don't qualify for the PTC.

However, anyone can purchase coverage on the marketplace (according to Covered CA) and I did so because the cheapest employer-offered coverage for a family of three was far in excess of what similar coverage costs on Covered CA. After lengthy conversations with Customer Support at Covered CA, we determined that receiving a 1095-C disqualified the entire household from APTC and so I paid full price. I chose to forego coverage and so the 1095-A from Covered CA inlcudes only the premiums for my wife and son, not any advanced PTC.

Unfortunately, Turbotax doesn't seem to take eligibility criteria into account when calculating the PTC. There are no screens or input boxes that even ask me who is covered by the 1095. It just computes the amount of the credit and applies it based on some mystery basis. I spent almost two hours with Turbotax support yesterday and was told that the calculation is correct and seems to be based on the family size and is in accordance with IRS guidance.

I am still undecided on how to proceed. Do you know anything about the logic used by Turbotax?

Thanks again.

[DMarkM1 · Accepted solution]

You are correct there are no eligibility questions/boxes in the 1095A interview.  Since you already know you are ineligible for the Premium Tax Credit due to not meeting the affordability threshold you should enter zeros in the boxes for SLCSP (column B).   That is column used to determine the credit amount.   

[rskham01]

Thanks for replying.

Is this a workaround? I do have a fully populated column B on the 1095A. Might it not cause problems when filed?

Thanks.

[DMarkM1]

It should not cause any problems.  The IRS gets your 1095C as well and will know that you are not eligible for the PTC.  The Marketplace representative should have recognized that you were not eligible and the column should have been zeroes on your form. 

You are not claiming the credit which is different from someone who was ineligible yet claiming the credit.

[rskham01]

Many thanks for your help. I have proceeded as advised. It did not affect the California return where the section for Form 3853 did indeed include the full interview.