healthcare penalty for newly married couple

[Jan S]

My client makes $100,000 per year. She has health insurance. She got married in Sept. 2018. Her husband on a schedule C earned $13,000 gross and $6,000 net income. He did not have health insurance until September. Would he qualify for the unaffordable exemption regarding the health care penalty? The penalty is being calculated at $1,411.

[marlenew]

Only way if he can use one of the exemptions....see IRS website for the list of exemptions. I just filed a return that was in a similar situtation and was able to use the exemption for high medical expenses which made health insurance unaffordable to him.

[Lion]

You do have an alternate calculation for the year of marriage. Otherwise there is not much relief. If they had time to plan a wedding, they had time to explore healthcare options for him.

[Dusty2004]

Married filing separate might be a better option. I would look at that.

[kathyc2]

My client makes $100,000 per year. She has health insurance. She got married in Sept. 2018. Her husband on a schedule C earned $13,000 gross and $6,000 net income. He did not have health insurance until September. Would he qualify for the unaffordable exemption regarding the health care penalty? The penalty is being calculated at $1,411.

Depends on what state he's in. If in a state the expanded Medicaid, no as he would have been eligible for it. If in a state that did not, possibly.

[TaxGuyBill]

Probably not.

There are no special rules for the penalty in the year of the marriage. The penalty, as well as any affordability exemption, is based on the annual income of the tax return being filed. So if they file a Joint return with $106,000 of income, it seems unlikely he would qualify for an affordability exemption. However, you need to run the numbers yourself to see if he qualifies.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8965.pdf#page=12

You may also look at other possible exemptions, such as Hardships.

https://www.healthcare.gov/health-co...ip-exemptions/