By Bill
What Kind of Health Insurance Qualifies as Minimum Essential Coverage?
The individual shared responsibility provision requires you and each member of your family to have basic health insurance coverage – also known as minimum essential coverage – qualify for an exemption, or make an individual shared responsibility payment when you file your federal income tax return.
Many people already have minimum essential coverage and do not need to do anything more than maintain that coverage and report their coverage when they file their tax returns. Most taxpayers will simply check a box to indicate that each member of their family had qualifying health coverage for the whole year.
Here are some examples of coverage that qualify as minimum essential coverage:
Employer-sponsored coverage
• Group health insurance coverage for employees under
o a governmental plan such as the Federal Employees Health Benefit program
o a plan or coverage offered in the small or large group market within a state
o a grandfathered health plan offered in a group market
• Self-insured group health plan for employees
• COBRA coverage
• Retiree coverage
Individual health coverage:
• Health insurance purchased directly from an insurance company
• Health insurance purchased through the Health Insurance Marketplace
• Health insurance provided through a student health plan
Coverage under government-sponsored programs:
• Medicare Part A coverage
• Medicare Advantage plans
• Most Medicaid coverage
• Children’s Health Insurance Program or CHIP
• Most types of TRICARE coverage
• Comprehensive health care programs offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Department of Defense Nonappropriated Fund Health Benefits Program
• Refugee Medical Assistance
U.S. citizens, who are residents of a foreign country for an entire year, and residents of U.S. territories, are considered to have minimum essential coverage for the year.
For more information on the types of coverage that qualify as minimum essential coverage and those that do not, as well as information on certain coverage that may provide limited benefits, visit the MEC page on IRS.gov/aca.
By Bill
Are You Self Employed? Check Out These IRS Tax Tips
Many people who carry on a trade or business are self-employed. Sole proprietors and independent contractors are two examples of self-employment. If this applies to you, there are a few basic things you should know about how your income affects your federal tax return. Here are six important tips about income from self-employment:
- SE Income. Self-employment can include income you received for part-time work. This is in addition to income from your regular job.
- Schedule C or C-EZ. There are two forms to report self-employment income. You must file a Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, or Schedule C-EZ, Net Profit from Business, with your Form 1040. You may use Schedule C-EZ if you had expenses less than $5,000 and meet other conditions. See the form instructions to find out if you can use the form.
- SE Tax. You may have to pay self-employment tax as well as income tax if you made a profit. Self-employment tax includes Social Security and Medicare taxes. Use Schedule SE, Self-Employment Tax, to figure the tax. If you owe this tax, make sure you file the schedule with your federal tax return.
- Estimated Tax. You may need to make estimated tax payments. People typically make these payments on income that is not subject to withholding. You usually pay this tax in four installments for each year. If you do not pay enough tax throughout the year, you may owe a penalty.
- Allowable Deductions. You can deduct expenses you paid to run your business that are both ordinary and necessary. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your industry. A necessary expense is one that is helpful and proper for your trade or business.
- When to Deduct. In most cases, you can deduct expenses in the same year you paid for them, or incurred them. However, you must ‘capitalize’ some costs. This means you can deduct part of the cost over a number of years.
Visit the Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center on IRS.gov for all your federal tax needs. You can also get IRS tax forms on IRS.gov/forms anytime.
If you found this Tax Tip helpful, please share it through your social media platforms. A great way to get tax information is to use IRS Social Media. You can also subscribe to IRS Tax Tips or any of our e-news subscriptions.