Quote

 

IRS to block, suspend tax returns that lack Obamacare disclosures

• The IRS said it will not accept electronic tax returns, and will suspend paper returns, that do not disclose whether the filer had health insurance coverage during the year.
• The IRS' move, which will bolster compliance with Affordable Care Act rules, comes as the Trump administration takes other steps to undercut the law.
• The penalty for not having some form of health coverage in 2017 is the higher of 2.5 percent of household income or $695 per adult.

 

The Internal Revenue Service, in a new policy, says it will block or suspend processing of 2017 income tax returns that do not comply with Obamacare rules requiring filers to disclose their health insurance status.

The IRS' move to tighten Americans' compliance with the Affordable Care Act comes even as the Trump administration remains hostile to that health law and takes steps to undercut it.

"Taxpayers remain obligated to follow the law and pay what they may owe at the point of filing," the IRS said in a description of the new policy.

 

 

 

Full article here:   https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/19/irs-to-block-suspend-tax-returns-that-lack-obamacare-disclosures.html

Not a problem if you are living here full time. That makes you exempt from the requirement.

No, this announcement isn't about the requirement to be insured or pay a penalty. It's about the requirement to disclose whether you had insurance, or were covered by an exemption.

 

Those living overseas aren't somehow automatically exempt from the requirement to be insured. They have to file Form 8965 to claim the exemption. Note that if you had Medicare Part A for the year, you were covered by qualifying insurance and don't need to claim an exemption, but you do have to check the "Full-year Coverage" box on line 61 of Form 1040.

 

To add I was thinking about this the other day. Very low income people are not required to file at all. But for expats considering we are eligible for the ACA mandate exemption based on living abroad it seems to me it makes sense to file anyway just to explicitly claim the exemption. 

 

Another question. I know many expats file using U.S addresses. Doesn't that make the living abroad reason for the exemption somewhat suspect?