Form 8962 Premium Tax Credit Calculation Error in TurboTax (ACA Form 1095-A Issue)
I'm losing my mind trying to complete my taxes with TurboTax and keep hitting a roadblock with Form 8962 for the Premium Tax Credit calculation. Every time I enter my 1095-A information, the software seems to be calculating my credit completely wrong. I've triple-checked all my numbers from my Marketplace plan, and I know they're right, but TurboTax keeps showing a much lower credit than I should be getting. I've spent hours on this already and even tried deleting and re-entering all my healthcare info, but nothing helps. The difference is almost $1,700 less than what I should be getting according to my own calculations. This is a huge amount of money for me, and I'm worried I'll miss out if I just accept what TurboTax is showing. Has anyone else run into this specific issue with Form 8962 in TurboTax this year? I know the Affordable Care Act stuff can get complicated, but this seems like a straight-up calculation error. Should I try different tax software instead or is there some setting I'm missing that's causing this problem?
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Logan Stewart
I've seen this exact issue with TurboTax this tax season. The premium tax credit calculation on Form 8962 has some quirks in how TurboTax processes the 1095-A information. First, make sure you've entered all three column values from your 1095-A correctly - the monthly premium amount, the second lowest cost Silver plan (SLCSP), and the advance premium tax credit payments. One common problem is that TurboTax sometimes applies the "family glitch" fix incorrectly, especially if you have employer coverage available for part of the year. Another issue might be that the software isn't properly accounting for household size or income changes throughout the year. I'd recommend going to the Forms view in TurboTax and looking directly at Form 8962 to see where the calculation might be going wrong. Pay special attention to lines 11 and 12, which calculate your annual and monthly contribution amounts. Sometimes the issue is that TurboTax is using an incorrect percentage for your federal poverty line calculation.
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Mikayla Brown
•Thanks for the detailed explanation. I'm having a similar issue but I'm confused about the SLCSP part. My 1095-A shows different amounts for each month in column B. Should I be entering these exactly as shown or is there some adjustment TurboTax expects me to make? Also, does it matter if I had coverage for only part of the year?
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Logan Stewart
•You should enter the SLCSP amounts exactly as shown on your 1095-A for each month - don't average them or make any adjustments. TurboTax should handle the monthly variations correctly if the data is entered as shown on your form. For partial year coverage, that's perfectly fine and normal. Only enter information for the months you had Marketplace coverage. The tax credit calculation automatically adjusts for partial-year coverage, so if you had insurance for only 8 months, for example, you'll only receive the credit for those specific months.
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Sean Matthews
After facing similar issues with my ACA tax credit calculations, I found an amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that saved me a ton of headaches. I was getting totally different numbers in TurboTax compared to what I calculated manually, and it was driving me crazy trying to figure out where the error was. I uploaded my 1095-A and other tax documents to taxr.ai and it immediately found the discrepancy. Turns out TurboTax was applying an outdated percentage for the federal poverty line calculation which was throwing off my entire premium tax credit. The tool explained exactly what was happening in plain English and gave me the correct figures to use. Their system also showed me how to check for this specific Form 8962 error in TurboTax and how to override it with the correct calculation. Seriously worth checking out if you're dealing with this Premium Tax Credit nightmare.
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Ali Anderson
•How exactly does it work? Like do I need to give them all my tax info or just the healthcare stuff? I'm always nervous about sharing my tax documents with random websites.
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Zadie Patel
•I've heard about these document analysis tools but I'm skeptical about the accuracy. Does it actually find errors that TurboTax misses? And do they guarantee their calculations are correct if you get audited?
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Sean Matthews
•You only need to upload the specific documents related to the issue you're trying to solve - in this case, your 1095-A form and possibly your income documentation. They use bank-level security encryption and don't store your documents after analysis. Their system uses the official IRS rules and regulations to verify calculations. It's not about guaranteeing audit protection, but rather identifying where tax software might be applying rules incorrectly. The tool gives you detailed explanations about each calculation so you understand exactly why TurboTax might be wrong and have documentation to support your correct filing. I found it incredibly helpful for understanding exactly where the Form 8962 calculation was going wrong.
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Zadie Patel
I was really skeptical about taxr.ai when I first heard about it, but after struggling with the exact same Form 8962 issue in TurboTax for days, I decided to give it a try. I'm actually shocked at how well it worked. The tool identified that TurboTax was using an incorrect household income percentage for my Premium Tax Credit calculation. It showed side-by-side comparisons of what TurboTax was calculating versus what the IRS rules actually dictate. The difference for me was about $2,300 in additional tax credit I was entitled to! It also generated a detailed explanation document that I could reference if the IRS ever questioned why I modified TurboTax's calculation. I was able to go back into TurboTax, access the Forms view, and manually correct the numbers on Form 8962. My refund immediately increased by the amount the tool said it would.
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A Man D Mortal
If you're struggling to get help directly from TurboTax on this Form 8962 issue, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was in the same boat last year - spent hours on hold with TurboTax support and couldn't get anyone who understood the Premium Tax Credit calculations. I used Claimyr to get connected with an actual IRS agent who walked me through the correct way to handle Form 8962 when tax software gets it wrong. Instead of waiting on hold for hours, I got through to a real person in about 10 minutes. There's a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent confirmed that there have been known issues with how some tax software calculates the Premium Tax Credit, especially with the recent changes to the ACA. They explained exactly what I needed to do to correct it on my return and what documentation to keep in case of questions later.
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Declan Ramirez
•Wait, this actually works? I thought it was impossible to get through to the IRS this time of year. Do they just keep calling until they get through or what's the trick? Also, can the IRS actually help with software issues or do they just explain the tax rules?
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Emma Morales
•This sounds too good to be true. The IRS phone line is notoriously impossible to get through on. I've literally tried calling dozens of times this month and always get the "due to high call volume" message before it hangs up. I'm extremely dubious that any service could magically get through when millions of Americans can't.
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A Man D Mortal
•They use a technology that continuously calls the IRS until there's an opening, then it alerts you to join the call. It's not magic - just automated persistence that most of us don't have time for. It typically connects within 5-15 minutes versus the hours of redial attempts most people go through. The IRS agents can't fix TurboTax directly, but they can clarify the exact tax rules that apply to your situation. In my case, the agent explained precisely how Form 8962 should be calculated based on my 1095-A information and confirmed that the software was applying an outdated calculation method. Having this official guidance gave me the confidence to override TurboTax's calculation and file with the correct numbers.
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Emma Morales
Ok I need to eat my words. After my skeptical comment yesterday, I got desperate enough to try Claimyr because my Premium Tax Credit issue with TurboTax still wasn't resolved and the filing deadline is approaching fast. I got connected to an IRS representative in about 7 minutes (!!) and explained the Form 8962 calculation problem. The agent confirmed there's a known issue with several tax software programs incorrectly calculating the Premium Tax Credit for 2025 returns. She walked me through exactly how to verify the correct calculation and what fields to manually adjust in TurboTax. The difference was significant - almost $1,950 more in credit than what TurboTax was showing. The agent even explained what supporting documentation to keep with my tax records in case there are any questions about why I manually adjusted the calculation. This was genuinely worth it and saved me from either missing out on money I'm entitled to or having to pay for an expensive CPA consultation.
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Katherine Hunter
Has anyone tried using the actual IRS Premium Tax Credit Calculator instead of relying on TurboTax? You can find it on the IRS website and it lets you calculate your correct credit amount manually. I had a similar issue and found that doing my own calculation and then overriding TurboTax's numbers was the best approach. Another option is to try H&R Block's online software - I've heard their ACA calculations tend to be more accurate for some reason. Or FreeTaxUSA which seems to handle Form 8962 better than TurboTax according to several friends who switched.
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Lucas Parker
•Where exactly is this IRS calculator? I looked everywhere on irs.gov and couldn't find a specific tool for the Premium Tax Credit. Do you have a direct link or steps to find it? And once I calculate it myself, how exactly do I override the values in TurboTax?
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Katherine Hunter
•You're right that it's hard to find. It's not actually called a "calculator" - it's the Form 8962 Instructions PDF which includes worksheets and tables for calculating your credit manually. Go to irs.gov, search for "Form 8962 Instructions" and download the PDF. The worksheet on page 9 is what you need. To override in TurboTax, go to the Forms mode (usually under the Tax Tools menu), search for Form 8962, and you can manually edit the values there. Just be aware that if you go back to the interview mode, TurboTax might override your manual changes, so make sure to check the final form before filing.
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Donna Cline
I'm having this EXACT issue but with Credit Karma Tax! The Premium Tax Credit calculation is off by over $2100 compared to what I should be getting. Has anyone successfully resolved this with other tax software providers or is this some industry-wide glitch this year?
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Harper Collins
•I switched from Credit Karma to FreeTaxUSA specifically because of ACA tax credit issues. FreeTaxUSA calculated my premium tax credit correctly on the first try - matched exactly with my manual calculations. Their interface for entering 1095-A information is much clearer too. Plus it's cheaper than TurboTax but still has all the features I needed.
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Nia Johnson
I've been dealing with this exact Form 8962 issue and wanted to share what finally worked for me. After trying multiple approaches, I discovered that TurboTax has a specific bug this year where it's not properly handling the Federal Poverty Line (FPL) percentages for certain income ranges. Here's what I did to fix it: Go to Forms view in TurboTax, find Form 8962, and check line 5 (your household income as a percentage of the FPL). If this number seems off compared to what you'd expect based on your income and family size, that's likely where the error is occurring. The 2025 FPL amounts are different from what TurboTax seems to be using in some cases. For a household of 1, the FPL is $15,060. For 2 people it's $20,440, and it goes up $5,380 for each additional person. You can manually calculate your percentage and override TurboTax's calculation if needed. Also double-check that TurboTax is using the correct "applicable figure" percentage table on lines 6-8. The software seems to occasionally use the wrong percentage bracket, which throws off the entire credit calculation. Once I corrected these values manually, my credit amount increased by almost $1,800 to match what I should actually be receiving.
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