Affordable Care Act

[Sunchimes]

Tom this may be outside your area, but I thought I'd ask. I haven't gotten into the site yet, but when they ask about income, I can't figure out what to put. If I put in the loss or minimal profit that shows up on our tax return, then we will qualify for Medicaid since my husband is retired. Texas has frozen or tightened up Medicaid to almost nothing, so I won't get coverage that way. Besides, realistically, without those deductions, we make enough to pay a little bit for insurance. I'm talking about the household supplies, utilities, and things we deduct using our t/s, not about the toys and supplies that are directly used by d/c.

If we use the regular deductions like toys and maybe food, I should qualify for tax credits or something to ease the pain I will feel with the higher rates.

I know that a lot of providers post about not making a profit for years at a time, so surely some of them are in the same boat.

Thanks.

[Childminder]

I was told to put the Adjusted Gross Income from the tax return. Does that help?

[Sunchimes]

Thank you. I'm sure it will when I pull out last years return to see what line that's on. It's exactly the info I was looking for. Thanks.

[TomCopeland]

Originally Posted by Sunchimes

Tom this may be outside your area, but I thought I'd ask. I haven't gotten into the site yet, but when they ask about income, I can't figure out what to put. If I put in the loss or minimal profit that shows up on our tax return, then we will qualify for Medicaid since my husband is retired. Texas has frozen or tightened up Medicaid to almost nothing, so I won't get coverage that way. Besides, realistically, without those deductions, we make enough to pay a little bit for insurance. I'm talking about the household supplies, utilities, and things we deduct using our t/s, not about the toys and supplies that are directly used by d/c.

If we use the regular deductions like toys and maybe food, I should qualify for tax credits or something to ease the pain I will feel with the higher rates.

I know that a lot of providers post about not making a profit for years at a time, so surely some of them are in the same boat.

Thanks.

You should enter your family's adjusted gross income. This includes your business profit and your husband's gross income. It's the bottom line on the front page of Form 1040.

[Sunchimes]

Tom, if I use my T/S deductions, I'm going to qualify for Medicaid, but since I'm in Texas and they have stopped Medicaid, I'm not going to be able to get any breaks. Is it legal for me to just use normal deductions (the things I buy just for daycare) and not use my T/S this year? That way, I will show enough to qualify for the assistance/credits.

As it stands now, I have my old grandfathered policy which doesn't provide any of the benefits of ACA, has no co-pay and a $5000 deductible, and the premiums will go up another $50 in Jan. Upgrading to a private policy without the ACA credits is going to be completely out of my range. Right now, I'm just thankful that they didn't cancel me.

I know my taxes will go up, but I would have a better policy for less money and the savings will more than offset the tax benefits of using T/S. I'm just not sure that is legal.

[TomCopeland]

Originally Posted by Sunchimes

Tom, if I use my T/S deductions, I'm going to qualify for Medicaid, but since I'm in Texas and they have stopped Medicaid, I'm not going to be able to get any breaks. Is it legal for me to just use normal deductions (the things I buy just for daycare) and not use my T/S this year? That way, I will show enough to qualify for the assistance/credits.

As it stands now, I have my old grandfathered policy which doesn't provide any of the benefits of ACA, has no co-pay and a $5000 deductible, and the premiums will go up another $50 in Jan. Upgrading to a private policy without the ACA credits is going to be completely out of my range. Right now, I'm just thankful that they didn't cancel me.

I know my taxes will go up, but I would have a better policy for less money and the savings will more than offset the tax benefits of using T/S. I'm just not sure that is legal.

The rules say that you should use your adjusted gross income that you estimate you will have in 2014. You raise an important question. If you don't claim as many expenses on your 2014 tax return so you can qualify for Obamacare, you won't get into trouble from the IRS. I assume that you have figured out that your higher federal taxes will be more than offset by your lower health care costs. If I was you, that's what I would probably do.