Is There a Penalty for Not Enrolling in an Affordable Care Act Plan?
As part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there was a federal mandate that each household member must have health coverage. The penalty for not having health coverage was taken out of your tax return when necessary. The ACA individual mandate penalty was repealed at the end of 2018.
Beginning in 2019, the federal penalty changed to $0, and there’s no longer a federal penalty for not having ACA mandated coverage. However, some states have their own individual health insurance mandate, requiring you to have qualifying health coverage or pay a fee with your state taxes for the plan year. If you live in a state that requires you to have health coverage and you don’t have coverage (or an exemption):
You're charged a fee when you file your state taxes.
You aren't charged a fee on your federal tax return.
Check with your state or tax preparer to find out if there’s a fee for not having health coverage.
