IRS: Tax returns should include penalty fee for not complying with ACA

For those wondering how they’re supposed to pay the fine should they fail to obtain health insurance benefits before the deadline, a new report reveals that the fee should be taken care of when filing tax returns.

In a memo released by the Internal Revenue Service, Americans must prove they have secured a “qualifying” health insurance plan when filing their taxes this year. If this isn’t established, they could be required to pay a “shared responsibility payment” when they file next year, according to public policy advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform.

“For any month in 2014 that you or any of your dependents don’t maintain coverage and don’t qualify for an exemption, you will need to make an individual shared responsibility payment with your 2014 tax return filed in 2015,” the IRS revealed in the report.

The total financial fee for the first year of failure to obtain a qualified health plan is $95 or 1 percent of one’s annual wages that is “above the tax return filing threshold of your filing status,” whichever figure is higher. The penalty jumps to 2.5 percent of adjusted gross income in the second year if coverage isn’t secured, ATR pointed out.

While this is an unpopular portion of the healthcare law, there are aspects that consumers are receptive to. For example, roughly 50 percent of Americans said there are good components, but the law needs changes elsewhere to be more effective, according to a recent CBS News/New York Times survey.