IRS Releases Individual Mandate Penalty Cap for 2015
In 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) began the Individual Mandate in which all individuals are required to obtain minimum essential health insurance coverage for themselves and their family members or pay a penalty. The penalty amount is calculated and paid when an individual files his or her federal income tax return for the year.
For each taxable year, the penalty amount is the lesser of:
- The sum of the monthly penalty amounts; or
- The sum of the monthly national average bronze plan premiums for the shared responsibility family.
On January 16, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Revenue Procedure 2015-15, which provides the 2015 monthly national average premium for bronze-level plans. For 2015, the monthly national average premium for bronze-level qualified health plans (QHPs) are:
- $207 per individual ($2,484 annually); and
- $1,035 for a family with five or more members ($12,420 annually).