Protective Refund Claims for ACA-Related Income Taxes

Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court recently announced they would hear a case that challenges whether the individual mandate under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is constitutional. It is possible that if the mandate is ruled to be unconstitutional, incomes taxes established under the ACA may effectively be repealed and any ACA-related income taxes paid in prior years may be refundable if a timely claim for a refund is filed. The Supreme Court will hear the case this fall and they are expected to render a decision by early 2021.
Income taxes established under ACA went into effect in 2013. These include the Net Investment Individual Income Tax (NIIT), which has a rate of 3.8% for certain net investment income of individuals, trusts and estates. Taxpayers must have both net investment income and modified adjusted gross income over the following thresholds for the NIIT to apply.
Filing Status | Threshold Amount |
---|---|
Married filing jointly | $250,000 |
Married filing separately | $125,000 |
Single | $200,000 |
Head of household | $200,000 |
Qualifying widower with dependent | $250,000 |
In addition, the ACA tax includes a .9% Additional Medicare Tax, which applies to individuals’ […]