# Health care exemption for expats



## Alltimegreat1 (Feb 25, 2015)

A co-worker of mine mentioned that his American wife had filled out an Obamacare exemption form, which she submitted with her taxes. I hadn't heard about this before. I assume she is claiming the FTC.

I submitted the FEIE this year. Should I have included an Obamacare exemption form along with my tax return?


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## DavidMcKeegan (Aug 27, 2012)

If you qualify under either of the FEIE tests (Bona Fide residency or Physical Presence), you are exempt from Obamacare requirements. As such, your return should be fine even without any additional forms.


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## FFMralph (Dec 22, 2012)

Wrong.
If you are required to file federal tax Form 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ complete Part III of Form 8965, Health Coverage Exemptions, to indicate the exemption(s) you qualify for and submit the Form 8965 with your tax return.


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## DavidMcKeegan (Aug 27, 2012)

Well in an ideal situation yes, they would have included the Form 8965 with the original return. However as it has already been submitted, they have a few options.

One is to leave as is and hope that the individual processing their return will put 2 and 2 together (they should be able to, but you never know who you are going to get processing your items). Even if the IRS does question it, they will just send you a notice and you can provide them with the form at that time. This would be the route I would personally go.

The second option would be to amend and resubmit everything and include the Form 8965.

The choice is up to you.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I really wonder how they'll wind up handling that. Up until the beginning of the year, everything I saw on all the applicable sites said simply that overseas residents (under either the physical presence or the bona fide resident tests) were deemed to have MEC (minimum something or other coverage). The question on the form is basically "do you have MEC?" and it would seem logical that someone deemed to have coverage should just check the box and move on.

Then they started talking about claiming the exemption for overseas residence - which doesn't exactly make sense given everything else they have said. 

I suspect they may not pursue this type of mix up too thoroughly, as David says.
Cheers,
Bev


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## FFMralph (Dec 22, 2012)

A few weeks ago I wrote the IRS Email Tax Law Assistance and got the following answer:



> Taxpayers who had qualifying health care coverage (called minimum essential coverage) for every month of 2014 for themselves, their spouse (if filing jointly), and anyone they could or did claim as a dependent, are directed to check the box on line 61 of the Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, and leave the entry space blank.
> We are assuming that you did not have this coverage, so you would not check the box on line 61 of the Form 1040.
> 
> You indicated that you were a bona fide resident of Germany and qualified for an exemption. An exemption applies to the months that a person was: a U.S. citizen who is a bona fide resident of a foreign country (or countries) or bona fide resident of the United States territories, or a resident alien who was a citizen of a foreign country that has an income tax treaty with the U.S. that includes a nondiscrimination clause and who was a bona fide resident of a foreign country.
> ...


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Similar to W-2s and 1099s, the IRS is receiving data from U.S. medical insurers (including the public ones, such as Medicare) listing who was insured, starting from 2014. If you check the box on Line 61 (2014 IRS Form 1040), then the IRS will (or at least very well could) check their list to see if you're on it. If you aren't, the IRS could send a letter in the mail asking you to explain the discrepancy.

Follow the IRS's instructions. If you live overseas, you'll generally be filing IRS Form 8965 with your tax return and choosing reason C for your exemption.


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