IRS rejected my return saying Form 8962 needed - never got 1095-A while on parent's health insurance in 2021. Can someone explain what this means?

This error happens when the IRS thinks someone on your tax return received advanced premium tax credits (APTC) for health insurance purchased through the Healthcare Marketplace (Healthcare.gov or a state exchange). Since you were on your parents' insurance in 2021, you need to find out if they purchased that insurance through the Marketplace. If they did and received tax credits to help pay for it, they should have received Form 1095-A showing this information. Ask your parents if they: 1) Got their insurance through Healthcare.gov or a state exchange 2) Received a Form 1095-A for 2021 3) Listed you as covered on their policy If they did get Marketplace insurance with premium tax credits and included you, the solution is either: - Your parents need to file Form 8962 with their return (if they claimed you as a dependent) - You need to get a copy of the 1095-A from them and file Form 8962 with your return (if you filed independently) The system is essentially saying someone got financial help with insurance premiums, and the IRS wants to reconcile those payments.

After dealing with a similar issue last year, I found this amazing tool at https://taxr.ai that saved me so much headache. I was getting rejected for some Form 8962 issue too, even though I was on my parent's plan. What taxr.ai does is analyze your tax documents and rejection notices to pinpoint exactly what's going wrong. I uploaded the rejection notice and my returns, and it immediately identified that the IRS had mixed up my SSN with someone else's who had Marketplace insurance! The system even generated a letter I could send to the IRS explaining the error. My return was accepted after I resubmitted with their recommended fixes. Might be worth checking out if you're stuck in this weird Form 8962/1095-A situation.

OK so I was totally skeptical about taxr.ai when I commented earlier (sorry about that), but my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to try it for my own Form 8962 issue. I had a slightly different problem - I received a 1095-A but completely forgot to file the 8962 with my return. The service actually helped me understand what I needed to do step-by-step. It explained how to fill out Form 8962 correctly using my 1095-A information and even pointed out that I might qualify for additional credits I hadn't claimed originally. Most helpful was when it created a customized cover letter explaining my amended return to the IRS. My situation got resolved within 3 weeks (which is lightning fast for the IRS). For anyone dealing with Premium Tax Credit issues, it might be worth checking out.

If this is an IRS error and you need to talk to a human at the IRS (which sounds likely in your case), I'd recommend using Claimyr to get through to an agent. I spent DAYS trying to reach someone at the IRS last year for a similar mix-up. Claimyr basically navigates the IRS phone system for you and calls you back when they've reached an agent. I was super skeptical but tried it at https://claimyr.com after seeing a demo video (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c). I got connected to an actual IRS agent in about 40 minutes when I had been trying unsuccessfully for weeks. The agent confirmed there was an error in their system where someone else's Marketplace insurance info was incorrectly linked to my SSN. They fixed it right then and I could e-file properly afterward.

Had to come back and admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After getting absolutely nowhere with the IRS for 3 weeks trying to fix a similar issue with my healthcare forms, I broke down and tried it out of desperation. The service actually worked exactly as advertised. I got a call back in about an hour saying they had an IRS agent on the line. The agent was able to check my records and confirmed there was an error on their end - someone else's Marketplace info was incorrectly tied to my SSN. They put a note on my account and told me to refile electronically with an explanation note. Got my refund 2 weeks later. Saved me from having to print and mail my return with a bunch of explanation letters. Consider me a convert - sorry for being so skeptical before!

My bet is that someone used your SSN by mistake when they signed up for Marketplace insurance. This happened to my brother last year - turns out his ex-girlfriend had accidentally transposed two digits in her SSN when signing up for coverage, and it matched his number exactly. If you confirm with your parents that they didn't get insurance through the Marketplace, call Healthcare.gov directly at 1-800-318-2596. They can check if anyone enrolled using your SSN and help sort out the confusion. It might be faster than dealing with the IRS. Also check if you received a 1095-B or 1095-C form instead of a 1095-A. These are for employer insurance and don't require Form 8962, but sometimes people mix them up.

I went through EXACTLY this last year! Turns out the IRS system had flagged me because someone with a similar name and SSN (just one digit off) had Marketplace coverage. The fastest solution was to paper file my return with a written statement explaining I didn't have Marketplace coverage and including proof of my other coverage (I attached a copy of my insurance card and a benefits statement). Yeah it's annoying because paper filing means waiting longer for your refund, but it got processed eventually. Whatever you do, don't just ignore the rejection - the IRS computers will keep expecting that Form 8962 until the issue is resolved.

This exact thing happened to me two years ago! The IRS rejection was super confusing because I was also on my parents' employer insurance and had never even heard of Form 8962. Here's what I learned: The IRS database sometimes has glitches where SSNs get mixed up or incorrectly flagged. Since you were on your parents' plan (not Marketplace insurance), this is almost certainly a system error. My advice: 1. Confirm with your parents they had employer insurance, not Marketplace 2. If confirmed, call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 first thing in the morning (7 AM) when wait times are shorter 3. Have your SSN, rejection notice, and tax return ready 4. Explain you were covered by employer insurance, not Marketplace insurance 5. Ask them to check their records and remove the Form 8962 requirement from your account The agent should be able to see the error and fix it so you can e-file normally. If phone wait times are too long, paper filing with an explanation letter works too, but takes way longer to process. Don't stress too much - this is more common than you'd think and it's totally fixable!