As usual, bad news from the government went out late on a Friday. Or maybe it was good news/bad news, at least for some taxpayers.
The culprit in this case: the IRS, which sent forms to taxpayers who received Obamacare premium subsidies in 2014. The forms are used to determine if an individual with health coverage a) owes money to the feds because the subsidy was too high; b) has money coming back because it was too low; or c) hit the number right on the head and owes nor is owed a penny.
Unfortunately for the IRS, it sent out some incorrect forms — how many, it’s not saying. “Only a small fraction of tax filers” it said in a statement. That depends upon whether you think the 800,000 people who got the wrong form is a negligible number.
Some of those individuals may get the correct form prior to April 15. The IRS is urging those people to file them.
For those who got the wrong form and don’t get the right one by April 15, the IRS is offering an automatic extension, using Form 4868. For those who haven't yet been sent corrected tax forms, they now have until Oct. 15 to file, as long as they request an extension.
Eventually, they will receive the proper form, the IRS promised. “When taxpayers receive their Form 1095-A, they should file their return using the information from the form. Treasury and IRS intend to release guidance shortly implementing penalty relief for individuals in this situation as long as they file a return by October 15.”
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
