Incorrectly Issued Health Insurance Marketplace Statement Relief – Form 1095A
I had a grEAt conversation with my friend Bob Kerr Friday. We talked about the Department of the Treasury expanding the relief it announced previously on February 24, which will mitigate any harm to tax filers in regards to filing Form 1095A under the Affordable Care Act.
Basically, if you enrolled in Marketplace coverage, received an incorrect Form 1095-A, and filed your return based on that form, you do not need to file an amended tax return.
Additional points Bob brought up include:
- The IRS will not pursue the collection of any additional taxes from you based on updated information in the corrected forms. This relief applies to tax filers who enrolled through the Federally-facilitated marketplace or a state-based marketplace.
- As before, you still may choose to file an amended return. Treasury intends to provide additional information to help tax filers determine whether they would benefit from filing amended returns. You also may want to consult with an Enrolled Agent to determine if you would benefit from amending.
My notable observations in response include:
- One known concern on the 1095A form was the use of the 2015 Marketplace benchmark costs for the Silver Plans instead of the 2014 benchmark.
- It is expected that the 2015 benchmark plans will be more expensive than the 2014 plans and as such it seems at least based on this one criteria that really no tax payer will benefit from filing an amended 2014 tax return as they will more likely than not have to return some previously claimed premium tax credit dollars.
Restated, it looks like the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) discovered further Form 1095-A problems. Presently we cannot determine how many more or what problems. We do know however that no one who filed a return based on incorrect Forms 1095-A will be forced to amend returns and probably should consult with an Enrolled Agent to determine next steps.
For more information on this issue check out:
Statement:http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl10005.aspx
FAQs: http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Documents/FAQs%20CMS%20032015.pdf
