The Affordable Care Act once again shows its true nature as tax-filers find they owe a bigger penalty than previously predicted. If Joe American did not purchase Obamacare, then he paid an average penalty of $383, but if he did purchase it but underestimated his income, he then on average that penalty was $579. Middle American Joe is getting hit disproportionately by ACA penalties.
H&R Block said uninsured customers who aren’t exempt from Obamacare’s mandate will see even stiffer penalties during next year’s tax season. The penalty is set to more than double this year from the 2015 tax, to $695 or 2.5 percent of income.
H&R Block said a family of four earning $60,000 would pay $975 this tax season, compared to about $400 last year. Next year, they could be socked for $2,000.
Forcing a family to purchase insurance and then penalizing them for underestimating their income is what the Democrats and their Misleader-in-Chief Obama has done to the middle class. The mandate, which was deviously implemented to get healthy people to enter the Obamacare marketplace, went from “$95 or 1 percent of qualified income — whichever is greater — in 2014 to $325 or 2 percent of income for 2015.”
H&R Block also said three out of five customers who received advanced tax credits to help them buy private plans on Obamacare’s web-based exchanges must pay a portion back to the IRS because they underestimated their actual income for 2015.
Taken together, these figures show that filers are floundering under the Obamacare subsidies, income prediction and penalties attached for not getting it right.
The average amount they’ve paid back to Uncle Sam has also gone up, from $530 last year to $579.
“With millions of new marketplace enrollees going through the reconciliation process for the first time we expected to see some confusion,” said Mark Ciaramitaro, vice president of H&R Block’s taxes and health care services. “But the fact a majority of returning marketplace enrollees are underestimating and having to pay back a portion of the [tax credit] signals there is still a steep learning curve on how to accurately estimate income in applying for the premium tax credit when enrolling in a marketplace plan.”
“Planning for the upcoming 2016 penalties would be prudent, but even more prudent would be getting rid of the Obamacare monstrosity altogether.”
Source: Washington Times Truth and Action
Photo: Charles Fettinger
Republican, not one voted for it
You have to look at the Republicans who have done nothing to repeal or stop this horrible law.
That is no surprise he has been screwing the middle class for the past 7 years.
Really? Obama is gone guys. All the excuses are gone too. Both Houses of Congress are now Republican, Supreme Court Republican control for last 8 years, next President Republican guaranteeing a super majority (7 out of 9 Supreme Court Justices, first time in history). No more liberals to blame. How are they going to explain to the American People why Roe vs Wade is not reversed, IRS is not closed, no passage of “flat” tax, & no repeal of Obama Care etc. It will be entertaining. The dog just caught the car.