With this comment in mind When people didn't pay their insurance premiums they lost insurance and went into bankruptcy protection if they had medical bills they couldn't cover. If these same morons sign up for more subsidy than they should get and can't afford the difference or don't pay the penalty they will be facing jail correct?
If you choose not to pay your taxes, you could be subject to jail time if no other remedies work. Still, it is a more efficient way to manage healthcare concerns than having people go to the ER and rack up bills that they don't pay, and which the hospitals just pass on to the taxpayers. So, the sentiment of "pay your taxes" is about the people who have chosen to freeload off the healthcare system.
No. There is no enforcement power tied to the law regarding the tax penalty. They cannot arrest you for it. They can only take the money from a tax return.
Correct, but as the enforcement mechanism is in the tax system, you could theoretically be arrested "for not paying your ACA duties," but only if you chose not to pay your taxes at all.
My understanding is that the IRS could still level liens and garnish wages for nonpayment of the penalty. I think we need to be clear that yes this is a penalty with consequences. There is no point though to having a mandate if there isn't a penalty.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/11/13/enforcing-the-health-law-mandate-what-the-irs-can-cant-do/ http://www.irs.gov/uac/Questions-and-Answers-on-the-Individual-Shared-Responsibility-Provision
I'm not doubting you and accept the evidence that you and Wekko posted so am not sure why you needed to add this.
It was more to the other guy who was "correcting" me. Also, you said we needed to be clear that this is a penalty with consequences. Not really. It's an unenforceable penalty unless you get a tax refund. It's also incredibly easy to get an exemption now with the latest HHS guidelines. As long as you can say the website was too difficult for you then bam, no penalty.
There is still a penalty. That is kind of the point with enforcing a mandate. I agree though there are a lot of ways around it.
What if the taxpayer has no return coming and owes taxes. If they only pay the portion owed due to their taxable income and not the penalty what happens? It seems weird it is possible to separate the the two. Almost like someone paying tax on capital gains and not W2.
Each tax year is a billable account. So your missed payment on the ACA for 2014 would not affect your debt in 2015. Stating that, the IRS states they're not big on pushing jail time on tax offenders because you're not paying off your tax while incarcerated. They'll just garnish your wages, put a lien on your property and a levy on your financial accounts. But they do not reduce your wages to 0...
