How to avoid insurance penalty if moved to foreign country in April 2021

[tbudd]

Hi,

I moved to India in April 2021, and therefore can't say that I was covered by health insurance for the entire year of 2021.

I was fully covered by health insurance until around May 2021 (through my US employer separation terms and conditions).

Now, I have been living in India ever (about a year now, 346 days, to be precise) since I moved, and had been out of the US for 9 months in the tax year 2021 (since a partial absence in a given month is also considered full absence for the month). Of course, my family and myself are covered by health insurance plans here in India, through my employer.

So, what are my options to avoid the penalty?

If I choose the first option " Spent 330 days or more outside the US" ( the applicability of which is a bit confusing though), and then pick the months (Apr - Dec) that I had been out of the US , in 2021, in a subsequent form, my penalty is getting fully waived,

Question : Is the first option below applicable to my situation?

[MarilynG]

You could choose option one or two since that is your current status.

Since you moved out of California in May of 2021, you should not be assessed a health insurance penalty either way. 

In the CA interview, indicate that 'we had health insurance coverage all year' and no further health insurance info will be required. 

[tbudd]

Thanks @MarilynG  for the reply.

The following is really reassuring. So, since I was present in the CA for only part of the year (in fact I believe I'm eligible to file as a part year resident, as discussed in a different post),  I should be fine indicating the following option. Right? This option is a bit misleading though ...

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In the CA interview, indicate that 'we had health insurance coverage all year' and no further health insurance info will be required. 

[Vanessa A]

Yes, that is the option you will select and you will be perfectly fine. 

[tbudd]

Thanks @Vanessa A !

1.> But if I choose that first option (330 days or more of stay outside the US), I've to then enter the details of my insurance coverage and the months I had been out of the US in subsequent parts of the insurance interview.

2> On the other hand, if I choose "we had coverage all year", the insurance coverage interview concludes right away (that @MarilynG  also mentioned).

I'm planning to go ahead with 1> (though the 330 days of stay outside the US would be from April 2021 to March 2022, not entirely in the year 2021. Hope that's fine?)

[MarilynG · Accepted solution]

Choose 'we had health coverage all year' since you had coverage the four months you lived in California.

You did not live 330 days outside the US in tax year 2021.