Starting January 2014, you and your family must either have health insurance coverage throughout the year, qualify for an exemption from coverage, or make a payment when you file your 2014 federal income tax return in 2015. Many people already have qualifying health insurance coverage and do not need to do anything more than maintain that coverage in 2014.

Qualifying coverage includes coverage provided by your employer, health insurance you purchase in the Health Insurance Marketplace, most government-sponsored coverage, and coverage you purchase directly from an insurance company. However, qualifying coverage does not include coverage that may provide limited benefits, such as coverage only for vision care or dental care, workers’ compensation, or coverage that only covers a specific disease or condition.

You may be exempt from the requirement to maintain qualified coverage if you:

• Have no affordable coverage options because the minimum amount you must pay for the annual premiums is more than eight percent of your household income,
• Have a gap in coverage for less than three consecutive months, or
• Qualify for an exemption for one of several other reasons, including having a hardship that prevents you from obtaining coverage, or belonging to a group explicitly exempt from the requirement.

A special hardship exemption applies to individuals who purchase their insurance through the Marketplace during the initial enrollment period for 2014 but due to the enrollment process have a coverage gap at the beginning of 2014.

For any month in 2014 that you or any of your dependents don’t maintain coverage and don’t qualify for an exemption, you will need to make an individual shared responsibility payment with your 2014 tax return filed in 2015.

However, if you went without coverage for less than three consecutive months during the year you may qualify for the short coverage gap exemption and will not have to make a payment for those months. If you have more than one short coverage gap during a year, the short coverage gap exemption only applies to the first.

If you (or any of your dependents) do not maintain coverage and do not qualify for an exemption, you will need to make an individual shared responsibility payment with your return. In general, the payment amount is either a percentage of your income or a flat dollar amount, whichever is greater. You will owe 1/12^th of the annual payment for each month you (or your dependents) do not have coverage and are not exempt. The annual payment amount for 2014 is the greater of:

• 1 percent of your household income that is above the tax return threshold for your filing status, such as Married Filing Jointly or single, or
• Your family’s flat dollar amount, which is $95 per adult and $47.50 per child, limited to a maximum of $285.

The individual shared responsibility payment is capped at the cost of the national average premium for the bronze level health plan available through the Marketplace in 2014. You will make the payment when you file your 2014 federal income tax return in 2015.

For example, a single adult under age 65 with household income less than $19,650 (but more than $10,150) would pay the $95 flat rate.  However, a single adult under age 65 with household income greater than $19,650 would pay an annual payment based on the 1 percent rate.

Find out more about the individual shared responsibility provision, as well as other tax-related provisions of the health care law at www.IRS.gov/aca.  For more information about your coverage options, financial assistance and the Marketplace, visit HealthCare.gov.

Many people pay for the care of their child or other dependent while they’re at work. The Child and Dependent Care Credit can reduce that cost. Here are 10 facts from the IRS about this important tax credit:

1. You may qualify for the credit if you paid someone to care for your child, dependent or spouse last year.
2. The care you paid for must have been necessary so you could work or look for work. This also applies to your spouse if you are married and filing jointly.
3. The care must have been for ‘qualifying persons.’ A qualifying person can be your child under age 13. They may also be a spouse or dependent who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care. They must also have lived with you for more than half the year.
4. You, and your spouse if you file jointly, must have earned income, such as wages from a job. Special rules apply to a spouse who is a student or disabled.
5. The payments for care can’t go to your spouse, the parent of your qualifying person or to someone you can claim as a dependent on your return. Care payments also can’t go to your child under the age of 19, even if the child isn’t your dependent.
6. The credit is worth up to 35 percent of the qualifying costs for care, depending on your income. The limit is $3,000 of your total cost for the care of one qualifying person. If you pay for the care of two or more qualifying persons, you can claim up to $6,000 of your costs.
7. If your employer provides dependent care benefits, special rules apply. For more see Form 2441, Child and Dependent Care Expenses.
8. You must include the Social Security number of each qualifying person to claim the credit.
9. You must include the name, address and identifying number of your care provider to claim the credit. This is usually the Social Security number of an individual or the Employer Identification Number of a business.
10. To claim the credit, attach Form 2441 to your tax return. If you use IRS e-file to prepare and file your return, the software will do this for you.

For more on this topic see Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses. You can get it and Form 2441 on IRS.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Additional IRS Resources:

• Tax Topic 602 – Child and Dependent Care Credit
• 1040 Central