A new survey reveals that 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 TurboTax Health Survey, conducted online by Harris Poll among over 2,000 adults aged 18 and older, shows Americans are still largely unaware of the connection between their health care and taxes.
Under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, 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, will apply to returns filed in 2016.
“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, which has extensive operations in San Diego.
Others key findings for the Intuit survey:
- Nine out of 10 Americans have health insurance, but those who live in Southern states are less likely than all other regions to have health insurance.
- Nearly half 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.
- Nearly three quarters of Americans who purchased a health care plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace last year plan to renew it for next year.
Intuit Inc.’s TurboTax, which has extensive operations in San Diego, developed a free online resource at TurboTaxHealth.com.
