The IRS is preparing to send out millions of letters to taxpayers to inform them that if they don’t sign up for the Obamacare health plan, they will pay a penalty. The Republican Congress is against this, believing the process threatens individual taxpayer’s privacy.
“In keeping with our commitment to taxpayer confidentiality, we will send the letters directly to the taxpayers; under no circumstances will we share the identities of these taxpayers, or any other protected taxpayer information, with CMS or with any other entity,” reports IRS Commissioner John G. Koshinen to the Washington Times.
IRS Forms | Photo Credit Flickr
Congressional Republicans and the IRS
Congressional Republicans are planning to repeal the health law, believing use of the IRS to boost the health platform is dangerous to taxpayers. Regardless, the IRS plans to send out the letter in batches before enrollment deadlines.
This will include 800,000 filers between November 28th and December 5th, before the December 15th deadline. They are targeting those hoping to find coverage before January 1st of 2017.
In addition, the post also reports “An additional 6.7 million Obamacare holdouts will see an IRS notice in January, as the administration makes a, “last-ditch plea for sign-ups ahead of the final Jan. 31st deadline.”
IRS Forms | Photo Credit Flickr
IRS Letter to Taxpayers
Within the first drafts of this letter, it’s reported that there will be another penalty in 2017, much like the 2015 penalties already dished out. Some drafts mentioned a $695 bill for adults, but that could vary depending on income. Higher incomes could pay 2.5 percent of their annual salary. Wow!
“The letters say enrolling in an Obamacare exchange plan generally costs $75 per month or less, once taxpayer-funded subsidies are taken into account. The campaign is part of President Obama’s attempts to put his signature law on firmer footing by driving up enrollment, particularly among young, healthy people, who could stabilize premiums under the program — before he hands off his legacy item to President-elect Donald Trump,” claims the Washington Times report.
Obama’s administration hoped to have Hillary continue to build this platform for Obamacare, but Trump’s Administration hopes to “unravel the exchanges.” While the privacy issues may not be a true factor, Congress needs to keep an eye on the IRS to make sure they aren’t up to anything else — benefiting the exiting Obama Administration, while hurting the American public.
Have you gotten an IRS letter regarding Obamacare?
