How to apply the health insurance hardship exemption AFTER taxes have been submitted already?

[Excel]

I didn't have health insurance for 2018. I followed TurboTax's instructions and filed for hardship exemption (outside of the software) for the health insurance market. I was approved and received an exemption certificate number (ECN). However, the instructions on the paperwork I received say that I need to provide the ECN on the tax return itself to avoid paying the penalty, yet I have already filed the taxes and paid the penalty. TurboTax did not say anything about having to wait to receive the ECN before filing taxes. Nor do I know where I would have entered the ECN number. I already clicked the appropriate hardship links in TurboTax and yet ended up getting the penalty nevertheless. I thought I would automatically get a refund after getting the exemption approved, but obviously that's not the case.

So my question is how do I go about getting the penalty back now? Do I have to amend the return? I don't think I can wait to do this for next year's taxes because the paperwork specifically says the hardship exemption is good for the 2018 tax year only and a new ECN would have to be obtained for other tax years.

[TaxGuyBill]

As Critter said, the only thing you can do now is amend.

However, the program shouldn't have charged you the penalty in the first place.  It is faulty in two different ways, and despite my repeated requests to get it fixed, they have refused to fix it and have been incorrectly charging the penalty to people in your situation.  Personally, I would call Customer Support and INSIST on a refund of your purchase due to their gross negligence on this matter.
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[Critter · Accepted solution]

Yes ... to make changes you must amend the return.

Select a tax year for specific amending instructions.

Keep in mind: You have 3 years from the date you filed your return (or 2 years after you paid the tax due, whichever is later) to file an amended return, which means you don't have to get it done by the April 15 filing deadline.

·         2018

·         2017

·         2016