It is not common to talk about income taxes, including forms, deductions and deadlines at the beginning of August. These issues are commonly reserved for March and April. But the reality is that more than 10 million taxpayers applied for extensions this year, and they will have to file an income tax return eventually.
But just because a person is required to file a return doesn’t mean that they will. While there are potential penalties that come with failing to file a return, the Internal Revenue Service hopes that some taxpayers take the initiative and file their returns. This is because some taxpayers may be risking their right to have subsidized health care taken away if they don’t file a return.
According to a recent Forbes.com report, the Affordable Care Act requires taxpayers to file a return in order to receive benefits. This rule even applies to individuals who, because of their lack of income, would not normally be required to file a return.
The rule is quite simple. The IRS doesn’t want to leave money on the table. The potential income from the 8.7 million people who took advantage of medical tax credits amounts to more than $28 billion dollars. Indeed, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the IRS will hunt these taxpayers down in order to collect; but the specter of losing affordable health care is important enough to generate interest in filing a return.
If you have questions about whether you must file a return, or have concerns about filing a late return, an experienced attorney can help.