Healthcare premium tax credit possible if married filing separately?

[vrgr79wild]

Most of the time I can wade through 'IRS-speak' and understand what to do and how things work; but I need some help with this:
A couple, married and living together for the entire year, where one spouse has health coverage through their employer and the other has marketplace coverage may want to file separately - for reasons not tied to health coverage - but have questions.
1) Can they file as MFS?
2) If they can file that way, is the 'household income' used equal to their combined AGI or only the AGI of the spouse that had marketplace coverage?
3) As far as form 8962 is concerned what else changes if the filing status is MFS?

Thanks

[MarilynG · Accepted solution]

You are not eligible for a PTC when Married Filing Separately.  Click the link for IRS info on the PTC.

"You are eligible for the premium tax credit if you meet all of the following requirements:

• Have household income that falls within a certain range (see question 7).
• Do not file a Married Filing Separately tax return ((unless you qualify for a special rule that allows certain victims of domestic abuse and spousal abandonment to claim the premium tax credit using the Married Filing Separately filing status (see questions 9 and 10));
• Cannot be claimed as a dependent by another person; and
• In the same month, you, or a family member:
• Enroll in coverage (excluding “catastrophic” coverage) through a Marketplace plan
• Are not able to get affordable coverage through an eligible employer-sponsored plan that provides minimum value (see questions 11 and 12)
• Are not eligible for coverage through a government program, like Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP or TRICARE
• Pay the share of premiums not covered by advance credit payments"

Here's more info:

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/health-care/what-is-the-premium-tax-credit/L6gAHB5ld

[vrgr79wild]

The link to IRS page and the "see question ..." parts of the answer were VERY helpful. Thanks again.

[cragsdog]

Turbotax does not give enough information on this!!! I could have saved thousands by married filing separately, because my husband would not have had to return all of his PTC. We had both taken the PTC but our household income went up too far. Had we filed separately, I would have had to pay mine back but my husband's income would have been low enough that he would not have had to pay back much at all. On top of that, if you file married jointly, you can't amend to married separately. This information should be much more prominent.

[BMcCalpin]

You cannot simply choose to file MFS in order to get the PTC.

The IRS instructions for form 8962 (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8962.pdf) state the following:

"You can take the PTC for 2018 if you meet the conditions under (1) and (2) below (page 2)...

2.You are an applicable taxpayer for 2018. To be an applicable taxpayer, you must meet all of the following requirements.....c.If you were married at the end of 2018, generally you must file a joint return[emphasis mine]. However, filing a separate return from your spouse will not disqualify you from being an applicable taxpayer if you meet certain requirements described under Married taxpayers, later.(page 3)"

And what are the "certain requirements"? They are listed on page 5 under "Married Taxpayers". Basically, you have to satisfy either "Exception 1—Certain married persons living apart" or "Exception 2—Victim of domestic abuse or spousal abandonment." Most taxpayers don't meet either exception. What is clear is that you just can't choose to file separately in order to try to take the PTC.