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Regulation and Compliance > Federal Regulation > IRS

IRS explains ACA 1095-A correction notices

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Some consumers who bought their health coverage through the public exchange system in 2014 or 2015 may have to refile their tax returns.

Related: Second ACA tax season rumbles to a close

The Internal Revenue Service explains the rules in a new batch of advice aimed at exchange-plan users who get corrected or voided Form 1095-A health insurance exchange coverage notices for 2014 or 2015.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides a tax credit subsidy for some people who get their health coverage through the ACA public exchange system. 

An ACA exchange is supposed to use 1095-A forms to help consumers document whether they bought health coverage through the exchange and how much, if any, subsidy money they received.

Many exchanges reported having trouble sending accurate 1095-A forms to users in a timely fashion for the 2014 benefit year. The IRS says one major error led to 800,000 tax filers receiving inaccurate 1095-A forms for 2014.

This year, managers of many public exchange programs have reported that sending out 1095-A forms for the 2015 benefit year went smoothly.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the agency that runs the HealthCare.gov exchange enrollment system for many states, said in February that it had gotten its 1095-A forms for 2015 out the door.

The executive director of the District of Columbia Health Benefit Exchange Authority reported in May that the D.C. exchange had mailed 16,762 1095-A forms for 2015, corrected 75 in response to requests from consumers and corrected 780 in response to requests from carriers.

The IRS says consumers who receive corrected 2014 forms for paid-up coverage that qualified for tax credit subsidy support may refile their taxes if that will help them get cash back from the government but need not refile their taxes if they would owe money.

If, however, consumers’ 1095-A forms were changed because the consumers never actually completed enrollment for exchange plan coverage, or because the coverage they purchased did not qualify for ACA tax credit subsidy support, those consumers must refile their tax returns, officials say.

“If you filed and incorrectly claimed a premium tax credit based on these forms, and you do not amend your return, the IRS may contact you about additional tax due,” officials say.

If consumers received corrected forms for 2015, and the corrections involve matters such as corrected spellings of names or corrected Social Security numbers, those consumers likely need not refile their returns, officials say.

Officials say consumers may have to refile returns if the correction involve the number of individuals covered, the ages of those individuals, the number of months coverage was in the effect, the cost of the coverage, or the value of any premium subsidy support received.

See also: 

CMS: HealthCare.gov has mailed its 1095-As

PPACA Form 1095-B: CMS to put off full Medicare compliance

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