Important: You should confirm with your Health Plan Administrator that they meet the IRS requirements to receive payments through the Direct Deposit Program, including filing new Form 3881-A, ACH Vendor/Miscellaneous Payment Enrollment Form PDF. The benefit of the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) is offered on a monthly basis through Advance Monthly Payments of the Health Coverage Tax Credit (AMP HCTC) program. If you qualify, you can choose to have 72.5 percent of your qualified health insurance premiums paid in advance directly to your health plan administrator each month on your behalf to lower your out-of-pocket costs for your monthly premiums. If you don’t request advance monthly payments and instead pay 100 percent of your health insurance premiums, you can claim your HCTC when you file your federal income tax return. This may increase your refund or lower the amount of tax that you would otherwise owe. The HCTC program will expire December 31, 2021. Plan Ahead Once you mail the HCTC Monthly Registration and Update form, it can take up to six weeks, if all requirements are met, before you receive registration confirmation. During this time, you must continue to pay 100 percent of your health insurance premiums directly to your health plan and keep records of your payments. You can claim the HCTC on your federal income tax return for months that you met all eligibility requirements and made payments directly to your health plan administrator for qualified health insurance coverage. Once your registration is complete and you are enrolled in the AMP HCTC program, you must pay 27.5 percent of your health insurance premiums in advance to the AMP HCTC program through the US Bank Lockbox system by the 10th day of each month. The AMP HCTC program then adds the 72.5 percent advance portion of the HCTC and sends the full payment to your health plan administrator each month. Enroll Now Using Form 13441-A, HCTC Monthly Registration and Update You must complete and mail Form 13441-A, Health Coverage Tax Credit Monthly Registration and Update PDF, with all required supporting health plan documents to the IRS to enroll. An incomplete form or missing documents will delay the processing of your registration. Keep a copy of the completed HCTC Monthly Registration and Update form and all required documents for your records. You must provide required supporting health plan documents with your registration. Include a copy of your health insurance bill dated within the last 60 days that includes all of the following: Your name Monthly premium amount Dates of coverage Health Plan Administrator name and phone number Health plan identification numbers Address for mailing your payments Usually, your health insurance bill will have all of this information on it. If it does not, you will need to contact your Health Plan Administrator for a letter or another document that includes this information. Mail the completed Form 13441-A, Health Coverage Tax Credit Monthly Registration and Update PDF and all required supporting documents to: Internal Revenue Service Stop 6098 AUSC Austin, Texas 78741 If your form is incomplete or you are missing supporting documents, the IRS will mail you a letter asking for more information. Please respond promptly to complete your registration. If you have questions, call the number at the top of the letter or visit IRS.gov/hctc for more information. Processing Your Registration After the IRS receives your Form 13441-A, Health Coverage Tax Credit Monthly Registration and Update PDF and the supporting documents, the Secretary of Labor, your state workforce agency, your employment office, or the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation will certify your eligibility for the HCTC. After you are certified, the IRS will mail you a letter explaining that you are enrolled and certified for advance monthly payments of the HCTC. The letter will also include your HCTC Participant Identification Number (PIN) that you must add to your payment information. Once your registration is complete and you are enrolled in the AMP HCTC program, you must pay 27.5 percent of your health insurance premiums in advance to the AMP HCTC program through the US Bank Lockbox system by the 10th day of each month. The AMP HCTC program then adds the 72.5 percent advance portion of the HCTC and sends the full payment to your health plan administrator each month. Requesting Reimbursement for Premiums You Paid Note: If you were eligible and did not request advance monthly payments and instead paid 100 percent of your health insurance premiums , you can claim your HCTC when you file your federal income tax return . You can request an HCTC reimbursement credit for premiums you paid directly to a qualified health plan for pre-enrollment coverage months. You must be a current Monthly HCTC Participant, have received a letter from the IRS confirming your current year enrollment, and made at least one payment through the program for your request to be considered by the IRS. You can request reimbursement beginning with the first pre-enrollment coverage month that you would have been eligible to receive the HCTC but you either chose not to be in the monthly HCTC Program or you had not received confirmation from the IRS that you were enrolled. Qualified family members applying for the HCTC after the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) payee or TAA recipient has enrolled in Medicare, finalized a divorce, or deceased can request reimbursement starting with the month in which the event took place. Mail Form 14095, Health Coverage Tax Credit Reimbursement Request Form PDF, and include the required documentation to the address listed on the form to request a HCTC reimbursement credit. Follow the instructions on Form 14095 to determine your eligibility and confirm you’ve included supporting documents to verify your eligibility. Once you mail the HCTC Reimbursement Request Form, it can take up to 12 weeks - if all requirements are met - before you receive your reimbursement by check. The IRS will mail a letter if your request is not approved or if additional supporting documentation is needed. To allow for end of year processing the IRS will not accept Forms 14095 for the current processing year after September 30th. Reimbursement for any payments made during the current year can still be claimed using Form 8885 when filing your federal tax return. Form 1099-H, Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) Advance Payments for AMP participants This statement is provided to you because the IRS HCTC Program made monthly payments of the HCTC on your behalf to cover a portion of your insurance costs.. This statement refers to these payments as advance payments. Form 8885, Health Coverage Tax Credit, and its instructions provide details on how to make the election needed to claim the HCTC and reconcile HCTC advance payments. You must file Form 8885 with Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040NR, 1040-SS, or 1040-PR to elect the HCTC even if you’re not claiming any additional HCTC on Form 8885. Include all eligible coverage months when you complete Form 8885, line 1, to elect to receive the benefit of the HCTC and confirm your monthly eligibility for the HCTC. See the instructions for Form 8885 for information on when you have an eligible coverage month. It is important to note that you MUST reconcile Advance Monthly Payments with your eligibility to claim the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) on Form 8885, Health Coverage Tax Credit, and MUST make an election to claim the benefit of the HCTC by the due date of your tax return (including extensions). You MUST file Form 8885 with Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040NR, 1040-SS, or 1040-PR on or before April 15th, or request an extension to file your tax return on or before April 15th, even if you’re not claiming any additional HCTC on Form 8885. Failing to make a timely election will require you to repay as an additional tax all Advance Monthly Payment amounts and all reimbursements of the HCTC you received in the prior year because you filed Form 14095, The Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) Reimbursement Request. Making Your Monthly HCTC Payment to the AMP HCTC Program The letter from the IRS will confirm your 27.5 percent monthly payment amount for your portion of the premium. It includes instructions for making your monthly payment. Important Information for all AMP HCTC Program Participants Your exact payment amount is due by the 10th day of each month. We must receive your payment by the HCTC due date. If your payment is less than the exact amount due, we won’t accept it and will return the payment to you. If we return your payment, you’ll be responsible for paying 100% of the unpaid premium directly to your health plan administrator. Any overpayment above the exact amount will be returned back to you. If a payment is less than the exact amount due, the payment will be returned and the individual is responsible for paying the unpaid premium directly to their health plan administrator. The participant should contact their HPA/TPA regarding any unexpected overpayment. Follow these steps to make your monthly premium payment to the AMP HCTC program: To ensure we apply your payment correctly and timely, you must mail the fillable Form 13973, Health Coverage Tax Credit Blank HCTC Payment Coupon PDF each month with your payment. Ensure your Participant Identification Number (PIN) is correct and legible on the voucher. Include the bottom portion of the HCTC payment coupon with your payment. Failure to provide all required information could delay processing of your payment or the return of your payment if, after research, the IRS cannot verify payment posting. Mail the payment coupon along with your payment to: US Treasury – HCTC P.O. Box 970023 St. Louis, MO 63197-0023 The AMP HCTC program adds the 72.5 percent advance portion of the HCTC to your payment amount and sends the full payment to your health plan administrator each month. The AMP HCTC Program accepts the following payment methods by mail: personal check, business check, certified check, cashier's check, and money order. Make your payment payable to US Treasury – HCTC. Write your HCTC Participant Identification Number on your payment and on your Form 13973, Health Coverage Tax Credit Blank Payment Coupon PDF. Monthly Payment Cycle: We will only accept payments for one month at a time. IRS will make advance monthly payments every 20th day of the month to HPAs for 100% of monthly participant insurance premiums. It generally takes up to 5 business days to process payments. We will not process any reimbursement requests for months in which a payment was made on your behalf through the Advanced Monthly Program. If you made a payment directly to your Administrator and through the Advanced Monthly Program in the same month you should contact your Administrator to determine how the payment was applied- your Administrator may advise you that you are paid ahead and to skip a payment month. Skipped payments: There is no penalty assessed by the Advanced Monthly Program for missing a monthly payment through the program, however penalties and charges, up to termination, may be assessed by your Administrator. If you have missed a payment, please contact your administrator to determine the status of your account. Refunds: Occasionally payments are returned to the HCTC program by Administrators. Payments could be returned due to a variety of reasons such as payment errors or account overpayments. When a payment is returned to the program, research is conducted to determine why the payment was returned and where the payment should be allocated. When possible, payments will be remitted to Administrators to correct payment issues. If we are unable to correct the payment issue, the 27.5% payment will be refunded to the participant. Please allow 12 weeks from the date the payment was returned by the administrator for refund processing. If you are aware that a payment error has been made, please notify the program as soon as possible. Repayment of amounts when ineligible: When enrolled in the monthly HCTC Program, you must inform the IRS of all changes that affect your eligibility and Family Member’s eligibility. If payments were made on your behalf, while ineligible, then it will be your responsibility to pay them back. You should include Form 8885 with your 2019 tax return and follow line 5, Form 8885 instructions, for Excess Advance HCTC Repayment. Making Changes to Your Health Plan Information If the information changes after your enrollment form is processed, including any premium changes, you will need to submit an updated Form 13441-A, Health Coverage Tax Credit Monthly Registration and Update PDF with the corrections.
