Form 8962 - How to indicate 0% liability when ex has health insurance for our child?
Has anyone dealt with Form 8962 (Premium Tax Credit) when the other parent carries marketplace insurance for your child? My situation: • Need to complete Form 8962 for 2023 taxes • Ex-spouse carries the health insurance for our child • I'm responsible for 0% of the premium • Finally got the policy number after weeks of asking • Completely lost on where to indicate my 0% liability Specific questions: • Which part of the form shows I'm not responsible? • Do I need to enter the full premium amount somewhere first? • Does anyone have experience with split household situations? Really need to finish my return but stuck on this one form!
13 comments
Carmen Sanchez
You'll need to complete Form 8962 using the allocation rules in Part IV. Since your situation involves a policy covering individuals in multiple tax households, you'll use the 'Allocation Situation 4' guidelines. Specifically: 1. Complete Part I with your tax family information 2. Skip to Part IV (Allocation of Policy Amounts) 3. Enter the policy information on line 30 (including the 12-digit policy number) 4. Use column (e) to indicate your allocation percentage as 0% 5. The other parent should indicate 100% in their form The IRS Publication 974 provides detailed guidance on shared policy allocations. You'll also need to check box 'Yes' on line 9 to indicate you're using an alternative allocation method.
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Andre Dupont
Thank you for explaining this so clearly! I've been trying to help my brother with the exact same situation and couldn't figure out how to indicate the 0% responsibility. This breakdown is super helpful.
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Zoe Papadakis
Quick q - does OP need to attach any docs from the ex to prove the allocation? Or just fill out their part with 0% and let the ex handle their end separately?
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ThunderBolt7
Oh my goodness, Form 8962 allocation situations are SO frustrating when you're dealing with split households! I had a similar nightmare last year trying to coordinate with my ex. After wasting HOURS on hold with the IRS Marketplace helpline (literally 2.5 hours!), I finally used Claimyr (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) and got through to an actual human in about 15 minutes who walked me through the exact allocation process. They confirmed I needed to use Allocation Situation 4 and showed me how to properly document the 0% allocation. SUCH a relief after days of confusion! The agent also sent me a confirmation email I could keep for my records in case there were any questions later.
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Jamal Edwards
Hmm, not sure about paying for a service when this is something the IRS should help with for free. Did you try the regular Marketplace helpline first? I'm wondering if this is really necessary or just an extra expense during tax season.
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Mei Chen
Did the agent actually help complete the form with you? Last year I spent 3+ hours on hold multiple times and when I finally got through, the person just referred me to the instructions which I had already read. Not very helpful!
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Liam O'Sullivan
I had the same allocation situation last year and can confirm the IRS wait times are absolutely ridiculous. Anything that gets you to a real person faster is worth considering.
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Amara Okonkwo
I used this back on March 15th when I was in a similar situation with my ex having insurance for our kids. The confirmation email from the agent was super helpful when my ex tried to claim I needed to pay part of it later in April.
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Giovanni Marino
I think I may be in a similar situation, but I'm not entirely sure. My ex provides insurance for our daughter through his employer, not the marketplace. Would I still need to fill out Form 8962? I received a 1095-A but I'm not sure if it's related to my situation or if it was sent in error.
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Fatima Al-Sayed
Just went through this exact situation 17 days ago. The key is making sure both you AND your ex coordinate on the allocation percentages. If you put 0% and they put anything other than 100%, the IRS will flag both returns and potentially delay refunds by exactly 6-8 weeks. Make sure you both use the same policy number and same allocation method. I'd recommend getting their agreement in writing (text/email) that they're claiming 100% responsibility. The IRS cross-checks these forms and if they don't match up perfectly, both parties will likely get notices.
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Dylan Hughes
This is so true! My ex and I didn't coordinate last year and both our returns got held up for almost 3 months. Such a headache. We finally had to submit amended returns with matching allocation percentages.
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NightOwl42
I was completely overwhelmed by Form 8962 last month - so many columns and calculations! According to https://www.healthcare.gov/tax-form-1095/, I needed to reconcile premium tax credits, but I couldn't make sense of my 1095-A form. I ended up using https://taxr.ai to analyze my tax documents, and it automatically detected the allocation situation and explained exactly how to handle the 0% allocation. It showed me which boxes to fill out and what to leave blank. The site actually has specific guidance for split household situations that was way clearer than the IRS instructions!
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Sofia Rodriguez
The Form 8962 instructions are possibly the most confusing in the entire tax code, and that's saying something. I've been preparing taxes for years, and these allocation situations still sometimes require a second look. One thing that might be helpful - you should probably contact the other parent and make sure they're planning to claim the 100% allocation. If they're not aware of this requirement, you could both end up with processing delays. And while the advice above is generally correct, there are sometimes specific state-level considerations that might apply depending on where the policy was purchased.
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