Posted on 02/15/2017 7:37:02 AM PST by GonzoII
The tax agency has stopped requiring individual filers to indicate whether they maintained health coverage or paid the mandate penalty as required under the law
How much difference does a single line on a tax form make? For Obamacare's individual mandate, the answer might be quite a lot.
Following President Donald Trump's executive order instructing agencies to provide relief from the health law, the Internal Revenue Service appears to be taking a more lax approach to the coverage requirement.
The health law's individual mandate requires everyone to either maintain qualifying health coverage or pay a tax penalty, known as a "shared responsibility payment." The IRS was set to require filers to indicate whether they had maintained coverage in 2016 or paid the penalty by filling out line 61 on their form 1040s. Alternatively, they could claim exemption from the mandate by filing a form 8965.
(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...
No enforcement, no teeth.
Full title: Major Blow to Obamacare Mandate: IRS Won’t Reject Tax Returns That Don’t Answer Health Insurance Question
The wheels are turning.
Great news!
Ridiculous. The law is still the law and any IRS agent can use it.
Yeah, but what do the courts say?! Or at least one shopped judge?!
I hope this means the mandate is dead. With Fedzilla you never know.
Not true. They can still come after you.
It is the law. If they don’t like it change it. Are we just cherry picking laws too? I don’t like the law but it is a law.
Trump can simply shift the additional 16,000 IRS agents from enforcement of the 0-penalty to the commie non-profits like media matters, OFA, Soros groups etc.
Good. Straight up; the mandate is what I have a problem with in this law. Take it away and make it voluntary instead of mandatory and much of my objection goes away. More choices will then appear on the open market so those who want to have catastrophic insurance can or they can have a more comprehensive plan and actually get their doctor back.
I do hope something can be done for people with pre-existing conditions through no fault of their own can also be covered at reasonable rates. Insuring kids well into adulthood should cost extra though but keep it available.
I hope they take their time with this and get it right. Everyone know obola got it all wrong but now that the ball is rolling; maybe something can be done to make it an open market system rather than a mandated one.
Just repeal it already.
This is GREAT news as we were going to have to cough up over $600 for the penalty/ocrapcare-tax.
The mandate is the heart of the law. Take it away and the law collapses. The chief justice of the supreme court defended it, and called it a tax.
It’s not a tax and the government does not have the right to force people to buy health insurance.
"The IRS notes that taxpayers are still required to pay the mandate penalty, if applicable. "Legislative provisions of the ACA law are still in force until changed by the Congress, and taxpayers remain required to follow the law and pay what they may owe," the agency statement said."
DISREGARD/DEFUND/DISMANTLE/DESTROY (as necessary)
Architecture for Totalitarians ALERT!
USSC Robertscare. The swamp is vast.
What will that POS Gruber say?
The mandate was always a central issue of the law. If I remember right, Justice Roberts said it was not a tax, but a fine, and legally that made all the difference.
Non-enforcement of laws is a sticky topic. In principle, all laws are to be enforced. But there are so many laws that our judicial system may not be able to enforce them all, and must prioritize. That may have been a rational for non-enforcement of anti-sodomy laws in some states.
In my view, Obama was not enforcing immigration laws. Border security was the lowest priority?
I was feeling a little queasy about non-enforcement in this case. Was Trump over-reaching and putting his own Presidency in jeopardy? I’m encouraged by the following correction to the article:
“Correction: The IRS did not reject silent returns last year, as this story originally indicated. The plan was to go into effect this year, for 2016 returns, but the IRS reversed course on February 3. Reason regrets the error.”
OK. So the IRS has not rejected silent returns in any year of the Obama Presidency. Why start now? I don’t see Trump getting impeached over this. Nor is it likely that any tax payer will get in trouble over this.
This is the best first step President Trump can take at this time. I hope the law will be changed to remove the mandate.
Tax prep software will actually make you answer I believe, but if you file by paper/snail mail, just refuse to answer.
By the way, just curious, is that smug SOB at the IRS still in his position? Koskin or whatever his name is.
Quoting myself:
“Justice Roberts said it was not a tax, but a fine.”
Did I get that backwards?
Either way, the mandate is a big deal at both the personal and national level. I’m happy to see it go.
Trump keeps marching forward, I picture him as a giant with all the media hanging on around his ankles trying to slow him down.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.