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Facts about your taxes & the Affordable Care Act

12/31/2014

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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes health insurance and tax law changes. Several measures of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, have been implemented, but the most significant changes take effect in 2014 and 2015, including:

Individual mandate:

Requires most Americans to have qualified health insurance as of Jan. 1, 2014. Coverage can be obtained through employer-sponsored plans, government programs such as Medicare or Medicaid, private plans or through the new federal or state marketplaces, also called health insurance exchanges.

Premium tax credits and financial assistance:

Available to qualifying individuals who don't have access to employer-provided coverage and purchase health insurance through a marketplace. Eligibility and amounts are based on the cost of marketplace premiums and your household size and income. The credit will be paid directly to the health insurance company to help cover monthly payments. If you elect to receive a lesser credit or no credit at all, you can claim the refundable credit on your 2014 tax return (due April 15, 2015).

Tax penalty for uninsured:

If you don't have health insurance for a total of 3 or more months in 2014, you may be subject to a penalty payable on your tax return due April 15, 2015. The amount is based on the number of uninsured individuals in your household and household income.

Small business mandate:

Starting in 2015, businesses with more than 50 FTE employees in 2014 (or a combination of full-time and part-time employees equivalent to 50 FTE employees) must either offer a minimum level of health care coverage to employees and their dependents, or pay the IRS Employer Shared Responsibility payments for any FTEs who purchase coverage through a marketplace and receive the premium tax credit.

 
Changes impacting your 2014 tax return:
Stanek Tax Services  will navigate all the ACA changes plus hundreds of deductions and credits for you but here's a summary of how the ACA impacts federal tax returns due April 15, 2015:

 As of January 1, 2014, most Americans are required to have minimum essential health insurance. For most taxpayers, this means little or no changes to your taxes.

 If you had employer-provided insurance for most of 2014, or you purchased coverage through a private exchange or directly from an insurance company, the ACA's insurance mandate won't impact your taxes. (Note: You may receive IRS Form 1095-B and/or 1095-C from your employer or insurance company in Jan. 2015, but you don't need to report that info on this year's tax return.)

If you purchased insurance for 2014 from a marketplace, you'll receive IRS Form 1095-A in Jan. 2015.

If you received the advanced premium credit in 2014, that information will be on your Form 1095-A. You may receive a bigger tax credit or have to pay back some or all of the credit if your actual income is more or less than the amount you estimated at the time you purchased coverage from your marketplace.
 If you did not have insurance for 3 or more months in 2014, you may be subject to a penalty (also known as an individual shared responsibility payment) that you must pay when filing your taxes. The penalty is 1% of your 2014 income or $95 per adult – whichever is higher – and $47.50 per uninsured dependent under the age of 18, up to $285 total per family.

 IMPORTANT! If you were uninsured and plan to claim an exemption in order to avoid the penalty, go to www.healthcare.gov/exemptions to see if you need to file an exemption application. Be sure to mail your exemption application as soon as possible because processing can take several weeks. If your application is accepted, you'll be issued an exemption certificate number (ECN). Since you must report your ECN on your tax return, don't wait to apply - doing so could delay processing of your tax return and your tax refund!

 

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Seven Important Tax Facts about Medical and Dental Expenses

12/21/2014

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If you paid for medical or dental expenses in 2014, you may be able to get a tax deduction for costs not covered by insurance. The IRS wants you to know these facts about claiming the medical and dental expense deduction.

1. You must itemize.  You can only claim medical and dental expenses for costs not covered by insurance if you itemize deductions on your tax return. You cannot claim medical and dental expenses if you take the standard deduction.

2. Deduction is limited.  For individuals who are 65 years or older (and only for 2013 – 2016), you can deduct medical and dental expenses that are more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. If you’re under age 65, the total of your medical expenses must exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income to yield a tax deduction.
3. Expenses paid in 2013.  You can include medical and dental costs that you paid in 2013, even if you received the services in a previous year. Keep good records to prove the amount you paid and in what year you paid the expenses.
4. Qualifying expenses.  You may include most medical or dental costs that you paid for yourself, your spouse and your dependents. Some exceptions and special rules apply 5. Costs to include.  You can normally claim the costs of diagnosing, treating, easing or preventing disease. The costs of prescription drugs and insulin qualify. The cost of medical, dental and some long-term care insurance also qualify.

6. Travel is included.  You may be able to claim the cost of travel to obtain medical care. That includes the cost of public transportation or an ambulance as well as tolls and parking fees. If you use your car for medical travel, you can deduct the actual costs, including gas and oil or, instead of deducting the actual costs, you may deduct the standard mileage rate for medical travel and that is 24 cents per mile for 2013. 7. No double benefit.  Funds from Health Savings Accounts or Flexible Spending Arrangements used to pay for medical or dental costs are usually tax-free. Therefore, you cannot deduct expenses paid with funds from those plans.



Stanek Tax Services · 15701 Hwy 50 Suite 204 · Clermont, FL 34711

Tel: (407) 434-1040 · Fax: (877) 386-1040



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THE IRS PHONE SCAM ISN’T OVER YET

12/4/2014

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I’ve commented on this before, and it seems that I need to comment again. If you owe taxes, are the subject of an audit or IRS investigation, or have general tax questions do not fall prey to a tax scam! It seems no one is immune from being targeted, and the perpetrators have not yet stopped looking for new victims. Students in Florida were the subject of a tax scam, the elderly are always favorites for dishonest schemers, and those of you living in Nevada are the most recent set of folks subject to a tax phone scam.

The tax phone scam is still a problem. Here’s what to look for, and how you should handle the matter if you get a call from someone asking you to pay taxes:



● You will receive a call or get a message from someone claiming to be from the IRS.

● You will be advised there is a problem with your taxes, and immediate resolution is required.

● The suggested resolution is in the form of making a payment, and you may be asked for personal information needed to process the payment (such as a credit or debit card number).
Not only are the callers asking for payment, they are threatening wage garnishment and even arrest for failing to pay. This has many scared taxpayers giving up money that isn’t really owed. The IRS warns they do not make contact via phone; the initial attempt at collection of taxes owed is through the mail. One thing you can always do is ask the caller to verify your tax payer ID number. If they are unable to do so, you are within your rights to terminate the call. If doubt still lingers, call the IRS yourself to get answers. When you are in control and initiate the call, you are certain to reach the agency rather than a scam artist.

If you have questions about taxes, call us for answers. The phone number is: (407) 434-1040, the fax number is : (877) 386-1040 ( yes, I was on the phone with the IRS earlier and the agent could not believe that I had a 1040 fax number, and even a toll-free number to boot!)
Additionally, feel free to email me at   info@stanektax.com .



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