IRS won’t withhold tax refunds if Americans ignore ACA insurance requirement

[RitaB]

1 hour ago, Pacun said:

If he qualified for EIC, wasn't his insurance unaffordable? Check that route.

Well that was torture, but character building.  If I did the worksheets correctly, and I actually printed them and did them by hand, he could have gotten a plan for 202.35 and the subsidy he qualified for would have been 236.63.  So, his required contribution amount is zero.  So, yes, it was affordable. 

But I could also be wrong...

Raise your hand if your health has declined because of stress associated with the Affordable Care Act. 

[Jack from Ohio]

[Pacun]

2 hours ago, JohnH said:

Rita, I think you have an ethical obligation to give him his options, the best of which is to file an extension and see what happens.  If he insists on filing now, and he insists on filing a silent return, you can tell him you won't do that and he will have to go elsewhere.  One thing which is lost in this conversation is the fact that our clients trust us to give them all the information available, and that includes information which may be inconvenient to us. If all the taxpayer wants is to have all the lines filled in, he can get that done with Turbo Tax at a fraction of what he pays us.

But I could be wrong....

Rita, don't tell him to go somewhere else. Remember the 30% threshold.

Don't lose a client over this. The problem is, in my area, a CPA is on the radio saying that most tax preparers and software companies don't know that they don't have to pay the penalty BUT he knows because he studies year around. He never mentions that the fact that the IRS will not hold the refund it doesn't mean that the penalty is gone.

It is not a good time to lose a client over something that will be made black and white in the near future. Do you agree that losing a client is losing $1,000 in future profits?

[RitaB]

2 hours ago, Pacun said:

Rita, don't tell him to go somewhere else. Remember the 30% threshold.

Don't lose a client over this. The problem is, in my area, a CPA is on the radio saying that most tax preparers and software companies don't know that they don't have to pay the penalty BUT he knows because he studies year around. He never mentions that the fact that the IRS will not hold the refund it doesn't mean that the penalty is gone.

It is not a good time to lose a client over something that will be made black and white in the near future. Do you agree that losing a client is losing $1,000 in future profits?

Pacun, I'm not losing him over the ACA.  I've had this family for three years.  Parents retired early, and grown @$$ kid won't hit a lick at a snake.  They want special treatment because they CHOOSE to loaf.  Hello?  Get jobs, People!  They are entitled little moochers who call me about everything, and complaining about a very reasonable fee was the last straw.  I'm not losing them; they're losing me.  I'm not helping him get out of that SRP.  I am that hard headed.  I sure am. 

[Lion EA]

I have almost no one on Obamacare.  But, I thought that they have no recourse to collect the penalty -- sorry, TAX -- except by it lowering a refund.  That if someone owes and doesn't send in the penalty, there's no recourse.  So, the IRS was not failing to process returns just because Obamacare information was incomplete or a lower amount is set to be direct debited or for anything Obamacare.  This year, the IRS was going to start NOT processing returns that were incomplete re Obamacare.  But, after the executive order, decided to continue with their method of prior years.  I would continue doing whatever I did in prior years re telling clients their options.  And, add the new wrinkle of extending to wait to see if the law changes.

[BLACK BART]

5 hours ago, RitaB said:

Well that was torture, but character building...  

So is cheap toilet paper.

5 hours ago, RitaB said:

...Raise your hand if your health has declined because of stress associated with the Affordable Care Act. 

Don't know how to do what Jack did, but my hand is definitely up.  Waaayyyy up.

[BLACK BART]

4 hours ago, Pacun said:

...in my area, a CPA is on the radio saying that most tax preparers and software companies don't know that they don't have to pay the penalty BUT he knows because he studies year around. He never mentions that the fact that the IRS will not hold the refund it doesn't mean that the penalty is gone...

Just thought (even though I intend to stick with the law), I charged a $600 penalty to a client the day before the news broke.  Sure hope they don't listen to the radio... (but there's still hope; lots of people can't decipher a tax return any better than I can an insurance policy).

[gfizer]

18 hours ago, RitaB said:

Pacun, I'm not losing him over the ACA.  I've had this family for three years.  Parents retired early, and grown @$$ kid won't hit a lick at a snake.  They want special treatment because they CHOOSE to loaf.  Hello?  Get jobs, People!  They are entitled little moochers who call me about everything, and complaining about a very reasonable fee was the last straw.  I'm not losing them; they're losing me.  I'm not helping him get out of that SRP.  I am that hard headed.  I sure am. 

You go, girl!