1095-A & 1095-C for same period - Potential error or reporting issue?

I just realized I received both a 1095-A and 1095-C covering the exact same months of last year and I'm totally confused. Is this normal or some kind of mistake? The 1095-A is causing me to owe a bunch more on my taxes which I wasn't expecting at all! I think I might have messed up when estimating my income for the marketplace plan, but honestly can't remember what number I put down. Is there any way to figure out how they calculated the amounts on my 1095-A? Like some record of what income I estimated, what plan I chose, and the actual costs? I'm stressing about this extra tax bill and wondering if having both forms is actually correct or if something went wrong somewhere.

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18 comments

Mei Lin

•8M

This is definitely something you need to look into because receiving both forms for the same period usually indicates a potential issue. The 1095-A is issued by the Health Insurance Marketplace when you receive premium tax credits, while the 1095-C comes from an employer who offered coverage. If you had employer coverage available (1095-C) but also enrolled in a Marketplace plan with premium tax credits (1095-A), you might be ineligible for those credits - which is why you're now owing money back. The system assumes you don't have affordable employer coverage when calculating Marketplace subsidies. To find your original income estimate, you can log into your Marketplace account at Healthcare.gov (or your state exchange) and view your application details for that year. There should be a record of your estimated income, the plan you selected, and premium costs. You can also call the Marketplace directly at their support number and ask for documentation about your application and how your premium tax credits were calculated.

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Mei Lin

•8M

You've identified an important exception. If your employer coverage started midyear, you would legitimately receive both forms. The 1095-A would cover the months you had Marketplace coverage with tax credits, and the 1095-C would cover months with employer coverage. In this case, you'd only need to repay premium tax credits for months when affordable employer insurance was actually available to you. For the months before your employer coverage began, you were likely eligible for the premium tax credits. Check the specific months listed on both forms - they should complement each other rather than completely overlap if this was your situation.

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Amara Nnamani

•8M

I went through something similar last year and was pulling my hair out until I found https://taxr.ai which literally saved me thousands. They analyzed my 1095-A and found that my marketplace had calculated my subsidy incorrectly. I uploaded my forms and they showed exactly where the error was. Turns out I didn't actually owe what the initial calculation showed because my employer coverage wasn't considered affordable under the ACA rules. The tool breaks down every line of those confusing 1095 forms and explained why I was getting hit with that tax bill. It also helped me understand what documentation I needed to fix the issue. I can't recommend it enough for sorting out health insurance tax form headaches.

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Amara Nnamani

•8M

They break down the premium tax credit calculation in really simple terms with visual explanations. It shows you exactly how your income compares to the Federal Poverty Level and why you qualify (or don't) for certain amounts. Way clearer than the IRS instructions. As for security concerns, they use the same encryption as banks and you can blur out any personal info like SSN or account numbers. The system only needs to see the relevant numbers from your 1095 forms to do the analysis. I was skeptical too, but they don't actually file anything for you - they just help you understand what's happening with your specific forms.

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NebulaNinja

•8M

Just wanted to follow up about https://taxr.ai since I was skeptical in my earlier comment. I decided to try it anyway because my 1095 situation was a total mess. The analysis showed that I had overlapping coverage that wasn't being properly accounted for. They explained exactly which months I needed to include on Form 8962 and how to properly allocate the premium amounts. Ended up saving me over $800 in tax credits I would have unnecessarily paid back. The documentation they provided was super helpful when I had to call the marketplace to get a corrected form. Definitely worth checking out if you're confused about those health insurance tax forms.

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Fatima Al-Suwaidi

•8M

I had a similar nightmare trying to reach someone at the marketplace to explain my 1095-A issues. Spent literally hours on hold until I found https://claimyr.com and watched their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They basically wait on hold with the marketplace for you and then call you when a real person picks up. Used it to get through to someone who could actually explain why I had received both forms and whether I qualified for an exemption. They connected me within about 40 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. The marketplace rep was able to pull up my application and verify what income I had initially reported, which explained why my 1095-A showed the numbers it did.

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Fatima Al-Suwaidi

•8M

They use an automated system that waits on hold for you, and when a real person answers, it calls your phone and connects you directly to that representative. You literally just pick up the phone and you're already talking to a live person at the marketplace. No more waiting on hold for hours. I've tried calling right when they open too, but with the current tax season, wait times are insane regardless of when you call. It took me three separate attempts of waiting over an hour each time before I gave up and tried this service. For me, not having to waste an entire afternoon on hold was totally worth it.

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Sofia Morales

•8M

I have to eat my words about that hold service. After my skeptical comment yesterday, I spent another two hours trying to get through to the marketplace about my own 1095-A issue and finally tried https://claimyr.com out of desperation. Got a call back in 35 minutes with an actual human on the line. The marketplace rep confirmed that having both forms isn't automatically an error - it depends on timing and when your employer coverage was both offered AND effective. Turns out in my case, even though I had employer coverage for part of the year, it wasn't considered "affordable" under the ACA guidelines (it exceeded 9.61% of my household income), so I was still eligible for tax credits during that period. Saved me from paying back about $1,200 in premium tax credits I was actually entitled to keep.

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Dmitry Popov

•8M

Check if your employer coverage was considered "affordable" under ACA rules. Even if you had access to employer insurance, if it cost more than 9.61% of your household income for self-only coverage, you might still qualify for premium tax credits through the marketplace. Also, look at the specific months on both forms. If there's overlap, that's when you might have an issue. But if they cover different periods (like marketplace for Jan-June, employer for July-Dec), then having both forms would be correct.

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Dmitry Popov

•8M

You've got it right - you would only need to repay premium tax credits for the months when affordable employer coverage was available (potentially April through December in your case). If your tax software or calculation is showing a higher repayment amount, it might be incorrectly assuming you were ineligible for the entire year. Form 8962 (Premium Tax Credit form) allows you to do a month-by-month calculation. Make sure you're completing Part IV of that form correctly to allocate by month rather than using the annual calculation. This is a common area where tax software can get things wrong if the information isn't entered precisely.

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