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Best observation ever made in the history of the world.

Now, Jack, those of us old enough to know what the term "pipe dream" means could take exception to being accused of drug use!

Only half? That's amazing.   1 in 4 Americans don't understand that the Earth orbits the Sun.   The average American reads at something like the 7th grade level.   I don't think there's a statistic about what American's don't know that could possibly surprise me.  Especially something like this.  Our healthcare and tax systems are harder to grasp than differential calculus.

Of course people aren't aware of the connection between medical insurance and taxes because there logically shouldn't be a connection. The IRS was charged with administering a chunk of the ACA not because it makes sense (their employees are accountants and numbers people, not medical professionals) but because the agency has a remarkable track record in translating law into practice and collecting money. Don't know how long that record will last now that they've endured budget cuts in real dollars and lost so many employees because they don't have the funds to pay them. I wonder how many people are aware that the IRS is responsible for determining that hospitals are conducting local needs assessments. What, you say? Yup, not hospital administrators or AMA boards, but the IRS. They will probably have to let go dozens of auditors for every medical professional they have to hire to enforce this part of the ACA. There are dozens of federal agencies with the word "health" in their names. Why all this was dumped on the IRS is that the agency has met every challenge congress throws at it (last minute tax law changes anyone?)

Shhhhh. If you love someone, let them sleep.

This year will certainly be difficult for all of us, but after we digest the new forms and rules and taxpayers realize their responsibilities things should go much smoother. I do some returns for residents of Massachusetts, which has had mandatory health insurance for years. The insurer gives them a statement with a very long number that shows how many months they had creditable insurance. You pop the number in and that's the end of it. It's more complicated if they didn't have insurance all year, but the software handles it well. The federal forms will be harder because of the exceptions to the penalty, advance credits, etc. It's up to the clients to gather this info, so we just have to wait for them to produce it. Those people who have affordable insurance are the ones wishing the death of the ACA. Those whose employers don't offer insurance or who have pre-existing conditions, diabetes, mental health issues, weight problems, hypertension, and a host of common problems think the act is a Godsend. My own child had surgery to realign a bone a few months before going off my Cobra. Nothing like cancer or knee replacement, just an alignment. Everything went well but insurers don't want to touch anyone who had surgery within the past couple of years. Ended up with very expensive insurance that didn't cover anything (not even a flu shot!). Thanks to the ACA he now pays half as much for decent insurance with a reasonable deductible.

I was pleasantly surprised by the download and install this year. No hiccups, no real delays, just the normal "first time you open it up" stuff that is normal. Not a lot of forms available yet for my personal return. IRS has reserved some space on the returns for the expected extenders. All in all it looks good so far considering we are only at Dec 8th. Tom Newark, CA

Almost Half of Americans Don’t Realize They Must Report Health Insurance Status on 2014 Tax Returns December 08, 2014- -A new survey reveals that almost half (48 percent) of Americans are unaware they are required to report their health insurance status on their upcoming 2014 tax returns. A new survey reveals that almost half (48 percent) of Americans are unaware they are required to report their health insurance status on their upcoming 2014 tax returns. With the start of the tax-filing season just weeks away, the Intuit (Nasdaq:INTU) TurboTax® Health Survey, conducted online by Harris Poll among over 2,000 U.S. adults age 18+, shows Americans are still largely unaware of the connection between their health care and taxes. Under the Affordable Care Act, 2015 will be the first year that Americans must prove they have qualifying insurance when filing 2014 taxes, or face a tax penalty. While most uninsured Americans (62 percent) are aware that those without any health insurance will be required to pay a penalty, 87 percent do not realize that the deadline to avoid a tax penalty for 2014 has passed. Health insurance purchased during the current open enrollment period, which extends through Feb. 15, 2015, will apply to returns filed in April 2016. A majority of those without health insurance (56 percent) were also unaware that uninsured individuals who meet certain criteria may qualify for an exemption from the Affordable Care Act tax penalty. Nearly half (45 percent) of Americans are not aware there are discounts called premium tax credits designed to make health insurance less expensive for low-to-moderate income families. “These numbers indicate that even with open enrollment in full swing many Americans still do not know the correlation between their health care and taxes,” said Sacha Adam, the Affordable Care Act product leader for TurboTax. “We are committed to bridging this gap by providing taxpayers with free, easy-to-use tools and resources that help them realize how their health care decisions affect their taxes and household finances.” To help Americans understand how the Affordable Care Act applies to their individual situation, TurboTax, the nation’s leading online tax preparation service, developed a free online resource at TurboTaxHealth.com. With TurboTax Health, anyone can determine if they are eligible for a low-cost health insurance plan and what the tax penalty would be if they haven’t purchased insurance. Additionally, the website offers TurboTax Exemption Check, a free online service that helps people without insurance determine, in just a few minutes, if they qualify for an exemption from the ACA penalty and then apply for that exemption. Other key findings for the Intuit TurboTax® Health Survey: Nine out of 10 Americans have health insurance. Those who live in Southern states are less likely than all other regions to have health insurance (85% insured in the South vs. 94% insured in the Northeast, 93% insured in the Midwest and 90% insured in the West). Nearly three quarters (74 percent) of Americans who purchased a health care plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace last year plan to renew it for next year. Those who purchased health insurance through the Marketplace during first enrollment are significantly more likely to be aware of premium tax credits than other insured groups. Americans who are covered by their parents’ health insurance plan are less likely to be aware of tax penalties (55%) than those who have health insurance through an employer (70%). The full report is available upon request. Methodology The surveys were conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of TurboTax from November 6-10 among 2,022 adults age 18 and older and November 13-17, 2014, among 2,014 adults ages 18 and older. The online surveys are not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

and its long term even if sold on the day he gets it.

UNLESS YOUR NAME IS DAHMER

I had to look it up.

I wished some of you would of heard her talk at the IRS nationwide tax forum, she reminds me of the judge that sued the dry cleaners for $54M for losing his pants.

No one is listening to me. I am just trying to figure out this issue with the help of users. Everybody is smart enough to know that you know and when it is time to follow your advice, they do. I am just trying to see if there is a solution to the issue before I start pointing fingers to a program that is working perfectly for a lot of people. Do you know how many people use ATX? There are many people with that issue and there are many more without that issue. For you to give up and say that it is a structural issue on the program is not a good solution to a problem. In any event, I am not giving advice, I am just sharing my experience and what I think the issue is. I am not suggesting anything except to pay attention to the Internet connection at the moment of opening ATX. I started a new post to see what users with issue have in common with me or among themselves and I hope you participate on that post too.

I am slow and Rita is the second. I guess I am the third luckiest.

If the issue were "the way the program is structured" then the issue would be constant and in all computers. Why don't you check the stay resident crapware or programs on your computer? I have seen the issue only when I need to do something on a fly and I turn on my computer and while booting up I open ATX. In reality, I have not had any issues with ATX from the very beginning and I was using XP before and Windows 7 Pro. I have always been admin to the local computer and my computers are clean without any "start and stay resident" programs.

I thought the same thing.

Ah, the importance of Punctuation!

I have to agree with that. Just because they 'say' that now does not bind them at all. The 'law' says otherwise. Protect your clients and yourself by assuming a strict interpretation.

Having said all that high and mighty stuff up there, I hope to GAWD this is a bad dream and the ACA as we [don't] know it dies a quick and efficient death. It's just ridiculous what we are gonna have to deal with here. My clients can't find their butts with both hands and a flashlight. I want to crawl in a hole and wait for the end.

And we ought to try to be consistent with clients, too. Don't need to give them a bunch of winks this year and then read them the riot act next go round. They need to think we're tax professionals. They have enough mechanics and hair dressers.

The IRS is doing NO verification for 2014 for any of the questions. This from Karen Hawkins directly. Additionally, no preparer penalties for tax year 2014 either. For 2014 there is no need to go any further when the client says they have MEC. There is no verification method, so nothing for me to keep records of. 2015 tax year will be entirely different.

Well, it sure ain't MY fault, either! And, I'm taking hours and hours of CE on topics like ACA and Repair vs. Cap Regs and expect to do a lot of re-reading of my texts over the next two months and have already been having conversations with select clients and will be pouring over biz returns over the next two months before clients are bringing in their 2014 info. They WILL pay for my knowledge and thoroughness. When needed, Form 3115 will cost a lot. Even my examination to determine that 3115 is NOT needed will cost something. And, all the ACA forms will have a fee, even the box to be checked that no further forms are needed. It's not the time it will take me to check the box that I'll charge for, it's my knowledge to know what to do if I check the box or don't check the box.