My wife came to USA on H4 visa last year on 03/03/2016. I am being penalized for the first three months for not having health insurance for her. How can I avoid this?

[HelenaC · Accepted solution]

There is an IRS exemption for your wife's situation:  Not lawfully present. You are not lawfully present in the U.S. and are not a  U.S. citizen, or U.S. national.

To get to this section of TurboTax:

• Click on the Health Insurance tab.
• At the Did you all have health insurance coverage in 2016? screen, click on I'll pick who had it and which months.
• On the Select the months each of you had health insurance in 2016 screen, check all the month's for you and April through December for your wife.
• On the Did anyone have a situation that waives the tax penalty for being uninsured? screen, scroll down to Wasn't required to get insurance, not a legal U.S. resident.
• On the Which months were each of you not a legal U.S. resident? screen, leave your month clear and check January through March for your wife.
• The next screen should read, Based on your situation, the penalty has been waived!

See the screenshots below.

Related information:

• Exemptions from the fee for not having coverage | HealthCare.gov

[ammarbinarif]

She came here on march 3rd of 2016 with an H4. Would I still put her down as not a legal resident for March?

[HelenaC]

No, just January and February.

[ammarbinarif]

The way it works is that when you apply for insurance before the 15th of the month, you can only get insurance from the following month. When my wife came in March, I applied for her then but her coverage started from April 1st. Is there a way to avoid getting penalized for March?