Rejected Tax Filing: My dependent received Form 1095-A. Do I include it in MY filing?

[Jcamilo]

I've got health insurance coverage through my job and I'm claiming a dependent; a partner whose lived with me for over 3 years. It seems that my taxes keeps getting rejected because my dependent has government coverage that needs to be accounted for. He received a form 1095-A through the marketplace and when I fill out the form on my taxes, it immediately estimates that I owe the federal government hundreds of dollars. This means I wont get anything from federal or state!? Is this because I thinks I have multiple policies? I ran into this same issue last year and a rep had me fill out a "mock-form" to get around the rejection while still receiving my taxes back and accounting for my dependent's coverage.  (something to do with just plugging in minimal digits on the form). My dependent - like in previous years, isn't filing taxes, so where and how does his health insurance information provided by the marketplace factor in to MY taxes without me getting penalized or rejected? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[DawnC]

If your dependent received a health-care subsidy that they did not qualify for, it will have to be paid back when your tax return is filed.   The amounts in column C of the 1095-A are advance premium tax credit amounts.    Make sure your dependent's information on file is correct for your family.    

If you're enrolled in a Marketplace plan and your income or household changes, update your application as soon as possible.   

These changes — like higher or lower income, adding or losing household members, or getting offers of other health coverage — may affect the coverage or savings you’re eligible for. 

Discover which changes to report.

Learn how to report changes.

[Jcamilo]

We're both considered Single but I'm claiming him as my dependent since he lives with me and I pay everything for him; we're also not related. It looks like he was automatically enrolled to the health coverage - which he did not use for the entirety of 2023 (just like in 2022), and since he did not receive a W-2 (for a couple of years now), I guess there's no taxes to file for him. It would seem a little uneven for me to even claim him as a dependent for the 500 dollar credit if I'm going to get penalized for his premium tax credit amounts his coverage gave him. Unless I'm to expect a check from BCBS for the unused credits can I contribute to this payback. Does that mean that if I don't claim him as dependent, he'd have to pay for the coverage he got despite not having any income? My income changed very little and my portion of the filing reflects it. Where it gets lobsided seems to be where his insurance factors in. Which, whether or not he was qualified, he still received coverage the entire year indicated on his form and now I have to pay for it because I'm claiming him as a dependent? I'm really ignorant to all this so I appreciate the feedback. Last year it seemed a non-issue since the credit provided was unused entirely.

[BillM223]

"he was automatically enrolled to the health coverage" - this is puzzling because no one gets automatically enrolled in a marketplace policy. You probably want to find out how this happened. 

Since you are claiming him as your dependent, you have created a Family unit, and the income of all Family members is added together to determine the expected contribution amount that your family would be expected to contribute towards the insurance premiums.

The reason that it's called the "Affordable Care Act" is because when you call the marketplace, you tell them what you expected income will be. The purpose is to determine how much the government will contribute to your insurance premiums.

 I am guessing that your dependent said "zero", which meant that you got the maximum premium tax credit (payment/subsidy towards the insurance premiums). But as Dawn said above, once your return is done with the two of you together with your hefty income, it turns out you were not eligible for such a big subsidy, so you have to pay it back.

So, immediately, call the marketplace and tell them how much the two of you together will make so that they can adjust the subsidy you are getting.