My wife and married on November 1st, 2017. She received a $50.00 credit Jan-Nov until she was added to my insurance policy at work. We need to pay back all of the credit?

[MinhT · Accepted solution]

When you file jointly, the premium tax credit is based on your joint income and not your spouse's income only.

The premium tax credit is given to tax payers with incomes between 100 and 400 per cent of the federal poverty level (FPL) and is reduced to 0 for incomes over 400 per cent of the FPL.

The 2017 FPL for 2 people is $20,290. so if you have joint income over 4 times that level, you have no premium tax credit and would have to pay back all the advance tax credit that your spouse received.

[kramerjm22]

Thank you, that is very helpful. Do you know what the FPL is for one person? Wondering if it would pay to file separately, or if the married jointly tax credits we would be losing would negate that.