Are you exempt from the Individual Mandate?

Under the Affordable Care Act, individuals must pay a tax if they do not have coverage that counts as "minimum essential coverage". This is called the "individual mandate", though the federal government calls it the "individual shared responsibility provision."

If you have what is called a "major medical" plan, you're all set – your coverage counts as minimum essential coverage, and as long as you kept that coverage in place for 9 consecutive months in 2014 you will not be liable for this new tax.

If you get coverage through work, there is a good chance that your coverage counts as minimum essential coverage. Ask your HR department if you're not sure.

If you are covered by a government health program – such as Medicare, Medicaid or TriCare – you have minimum essential coverage.

There are some insurance products that do not count as minimum essential coverage. This includes short-term medical coverage, fixed indemnity and other limited benefit plans. If you have this type of coverage and it is your ONLY coverage, you may be subject to the individual mandate tax.

However, you may be able to qualify for an exemption from the individual mandate tax. The federal government has listed several exemptions from the requirement to obtain minimum essential coverage:

1. Religious conscience. You are a member of a religious sect that is recognized as conscientiously opposed to accepting any insurance benefits. The Social Security Administration administers the process for recognizing these sects according to the criteria in the law.
2. Health care sharing ministry. You are a member of a health care sharing ministry.
3. Indian tribes. You are (1) a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe or (2) an individual eligible for services through an Indian care provider.
4. Income below the income tax return filing requirement. Your income is below the minimum threshold for filing a tax return. The requirement to file a federal tax return depends on your filing status, age and types and amounts of income. To find out if you are required to file a federal tax return, use the IRS Interactive Tax Assistant (ITA).
5. Short coverage gap. You went without coverage for less than three consecutive months during the year.
6. Hardship. You have suffered a hardship that makes you unable to obtain coverage, as defined in final regulations issued by the Department of Health and Human Services. (see below)
7. Affordability. You can't afford coverage because the minimum amount you must pay for the premiums is more than eight percent of your household income.
8. Incarceration. You are in a jail, prison, or similar penal institution or correctional facility after the disposition of charges against you.
9. Not lawfully present. You are not a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national or an alien lawfully present in the U.S.

The sixth exemption, known as the "hardship exemption", provides that you will not have to pay the individual mandate tax if you experienced any of the circumstances below, and that affected your ability to purchase health insurance:

1. You were homeless.
2. You were evicted in the past 6 months or were facing eviction or foreclosure.
3. You received a shut-off notice from a utility company.
4. You recently experienced domestic violence.
5. You recently experienced the death of a close family member.
6. You experienced a fire, flood, or other natural or human-caused disaster that caused substantial damage to your property.
7. You filed for bankruptcy in the last 6 months.
8. You had medical expenses you couldn't pay in the last 24 months.
9. You experienced unexpected increases in necessary expenses due to caring for an ill, disabled, or aging family member.
10. You expect to claim a child as a tax dependent who's been denied coverage in Medicaid and CHIP, and another person is required by court order to give medical support to the child. In this case, you do not have the pay the penalty for the child.
11. As a result of an eligibility appeals decision, you're eligible for enrollment in a qualified health plan (QHP) through the Marketplace, lower costs on your monthly premiums, or cost-sharing reductions for a time period when you weren't enrolled in a QHP through the Marketplace.
12. You were determined ineligible for Medicaid because your state didn't expand eligibility for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
13. Your individual insurance plan was cancelled and you believe other Marketplace plans are unaffordable.
14. You experienced another hardship in obtaining health insurance.

The federal government has created a user-friendly website to help individuals that might qualify for an individual mandate exemption. That site is:

There you will find more information about each of the exemptions, along with instructions on how to apply for an exemptions. Note that some exemptions require you to apply in advance, while other exemptions can be claimed on your annual income tax return.