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Monday, February 29, 2016

Deciphering The IRS Tax Code


Apparently, I need a copy of Form 1095-B so as to prove that I've had health insurance coverage for all of tax year 2015 and so as to avoid the ObamaCare fine. To date, I have not yet received any such form from my insurance carrier BlueCross Blue Shield. Some of my friends have received their Form 1095-B, but I have not.

So, I decided to look up the due date online. Here's what I found (bold font in red is my emphasis):
New Due Dates for Filing Forms 1095-B, 1094-B, 1095-C and 1094-C -- 29-DEC-2015

The due dates for the 2015 information reporting requirements under I.R.C. §§ 6055 and 6056, have been extended.

*The due date for furnishing the 2015 Form 1095-B, Health Coverage, was changed from January 31, 2016, to March 31, 2016; and

*The due date for filing with the Service the 2015 Form 1094-B, Transmittal of Health Coverage Information Returns, and the 2015 Form 1095-B, Health Coverage, was changed from February 29, 2016, to May 31, 2016. If filing electronically, the due date was changed from March 31, 2016, to June 30, 2016.

*The due date for furnishing the 2015 Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage, was changed from January 31, 2016, to March 31, 2016; and

*The due date for filing with the Service the 2015 Form 1094-C, Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Returns, and the 2015 Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage, was changed from February 29, 2016, to May 31, 2016. If filing electronically, the due date was changed from March 31, 2016, to June 30, 2016.

As a result of these extensions, individuals might not receive a Form 1095-B or Form 1095-C by the time they file their 2015 tax returns. For further guidance, please see Notice 2016-04.
Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 30-Dec-2015
Wrap your mind around all that verbiage! Are the people who write the IRS tax code paid by the word?

 My due date for filing my 2015 tax return in April 15, 2016 — unless filing electronically (I do indeed file electronically), in which case the due date is June 30, 2016 a date well after my tax return is due.

Is this delay going to cost me more to file my tax return because my tax preparer will have to file an amended return?

28 comments:

  1. I took an elderly friend to get her taxes done. She went home later that day and found the 1095c in her mailbox and absolutely panicked. I explained it to her.

    I have received my documentation already from both my place of employment and also BCBS of Texas.

    My hopeful guess is that this year it will be a dry run for a completed process next year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I understand her panic. That is the other aspect of the complex tax code: It terrorizes honest taxpayers who sincerely try to do the right thing, but it is so hopelessly complicated that we're never quite sure we did it right.

      Delete
    2. I wonder if IRS will fine me, the have to reimburse the fine. Forms required, I'm sure.

      Never mind that I've carried medical insurance ALL of my adult life. 53 years with no lapse. But how do I PROVE that?

      Delete
    3. Prince,
      The form(s) I am awaiting should be coming from BCBS. You have yours, but I don't have mine?

      Delete
  2. The first department to get under control is this one. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bunkerville,
      The power of the IRS is astounding. I know. My mother (retired 1960) worked for the IRS and warned me way back then about the agency's power.

      Delete
  3. Every year at tax time I want to kick every politician square in the ass.

    It's not the money; I am not anti-government and I have no problem paying my fair share. It's the damned paperwork.

    The politician(s) who could simplify the tax code and make it possible for us to file our taxes in five minutes by logging onto the IRS website and punching a few buttons would earn the undying gratitude of millions and probably be reelected in perpetuity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SF!
      As a self-employed person, I spend hours upon hours getting figures ready for our accountant. And this household's income is pathetically low.

      One of the biggest hassles is correctly itemizing medical expenses. The figures have to be entered in precise categories. Hours upon hours -- even with Quicken.

      Delete
  4. This is why I am happy to part with a considerable sum each year, and hand it over to my accountant who handles all this crap with aplomb.

    FYI: I dont have a particularly large income by today's standards, but A) my accountant's fees are tax-deductible, and B) I don't have to deal with a gastric ulcer, heart palpitations, migraine headaches, chronic indigestion, waking nightmares, and the corrosive effects of feeling and expressing perpetual rage.

    Good luck dealing with the Feds.

    I got FED-UP, long ago, and refuse to do it.

    What I've saved in anal wear and tear over the past fifty-odd years has been well worth whatever it cost in dollars and cents.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FT,
      I have an excellent accountant. Top of the line and with a price tag for top of the line. I can't afford a higher price tag, which is what I'd have to pay if he did all the accounting for my puny sole proprietorship, medical expenses, etc.

      The form I'm lacking comes from an entity over which I have no control: namely, Blue Cross.

      Delete
  5. I would submit a copy of my insurance card in lieu... You can always amend after the form 'finally' shows up...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Old NFO,
      I have thought about that. But I hate the idea of filing an amended return.

      Delete
  6. I've never heard of those forms. I did Turbotax this year and no mention. As an aside, obammycare has not even yet begun to suck.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Replies
    1. Ed,
      Probably some IRS bot would notice and automatically levy the fine.

      Delete
  8. Years ago, I had a friend who was an impoverished tax accountant in Detroit.
    Barely made ends meet.
    Part time pastor, also.
    He got a job as an IRS auditor.
    It was the most money he ever earned.
    He quit after two years.
    Could not continue in good conscience.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ed,
      Every chance she got, my mother transferred out of the IRS. She kept getting bumped back.

      Delete
  9. I lost my coverage due to Hilter-care courtesy Hussein O! arggg!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WHT,
      I lucked out! My private policy was grandfathered. By a scant two weeks!

      Delete
  10. Happily TurboTax never let's me down with a refund each year....but I stand by my tax edicts: I fail to see the justice in the EITC; I fail to see the justice in being taxed on my Virginia State Tax refund [since it was an overpayment]; I homeschool my kids, so why am I not getting a tax credit for not using government schools; and finally......tax withholding is a government scheme to keep citizens ignorant and complacent as to how much they're paying to feed the machine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CI,
      As a sole proprietor, I don't have the option of having taxes withheld. So, I cough up the taxes every quarter,

      You're right that withholding masks the actual pain of paying taxes. I oppose withholding on principle.

      Delete
    2. Agree! If I were king, withholding would be outlawed. I used to get so frustrated with dummies who were giddy about 'getting money back' and I'd say
      "It's your money. They've been holding on to it all year and aren't paying you interest."
      "Oh, but I LOVE getting that refund check!"
      "There are better ways to save, you know.
      "Oh, but I LOVE getting that refund check!"
      Hopeless!

      Delete
  11. I got my form a few days ago....I'd forgotten WHY that's important; thanks for reminding me about how we MUST have healthcare OR ELSE!
    Don't worry, if you don't get the form, there's no way you can't prove you have insurance; you have a paper trail.
    Copying your insurance card could work but they normally don't have dates on when you're covered for, I don't think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Z,
      Insurance cards do indeed no longer show the coverage dates.

      I suppose that I have a paper trail in the sense that the bank could provide copies of the checks, but I read somewhere that IRS will not accept those checks as proof. The form must be submitted! **sigh**

      Delete
  12. What form? My healthcare is Medicare, and I don't need no stinking forms. The Federal Government is taking care of me. The AOW's must be relative children otherwise they would be happy wards of the government just like me. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mr. AOW has qualified for Medicare (total disability post.-stroke).

      I'm not quite old enough to qualify.

      Delete
  13. I don't know that you have to attach the form. When I finished my Turbo Tax it just asked the questions and said 'done!'

    I'm in a healthcare sharing ministry and they have an alternate form to use. But I got this 1095 form from Blue Cross for the one month I had them this year.

    ReplyDelete

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