Why did my refund go down after entering my 1095-A? I know it'll go down if you made more than you estimated for the year, but I made a lot less than I thought.

[S--Lang]

I entered in all my healthcare info.  My refund went down a lot after putting in the 1095-A info.  A little notation said this will happen if you make more than you tell the Marketplace you thought you would for the year, but I made less than I thought I would.  In fact, I only made half as much as I expected this past year.  Why did my tax refund amount go down so much?

[SunnyM]

The refund monitor can sometimes be delayed, so it may have been your healthcare entries that changed it, or it could have been something else. The two things that could cause your refund to go down relating to healthcare are:

• Excess advance premium tax credit repayment on Form 1040, line 46 or Form 1040A, line 29. 
• Health care: individual responsibility payment on Form 1040, line 61 or Form 1040A, line 38. 
  

The premium tax credit repayment should have only been if you made more than you told the marketplace you were going to make. 

The individual responsibility payment should have only been if you did not have healthcare during multiple months. 

If either of these have values, I would recommend looking over the 8962 to make sure your entries look good. 

[narahnicole]

Did you ever figure this out? I'm in the same boat now and not sure what to do - I didn't really understand the solution the other person who responded gave. 

[DMarkM1]

Since you mention the refund changed when entering the form 1095A, as you surmise, they are likely related.  The earlier post is old and the 1040 has changed.

Check line 23 on your form 1040; an amount there represents a tax added in addition to your regular income taxes. This amount flows from schedule 2.  Line 2 on Schedule 2 is the excess advanced premium tax credit which comes from form 8962 (Form 1095A topic entries).  If there are unexpected amounts in these lines go back to the "ACA form 1095A" topic in the "Deductions and Credits"  section and recheck/verify your entries as compared to your form 1095A.

You can see these forms in online versions using the steps below.  In desktop versions you can use the "forms mode."

1. Select "Tax Tools" in the left hand menu
2. Select "Tools"
3. Select "View Tax Summary"
4. Select "Preview My 1040" in the left hand menu

You can always contact your Marketplace insurer to verify the form 1095A is correct and inquire how your income compares to your initial application.   

@narahnicole