Next year, on February 2nd or so, most households will begin the annual roundup of tax documents to forward on to the tax preparer. "Honey - do you have my W-2? Where is the bank 1099?" and other similar questions will be repeated time and again as we all start the annual ritual of reconciling what we owe on the income we earned with what we paid through withholding or direct payments to the U.S. Treasury.
However - a new question will be added to those listed above that has until this point never 
been heard before. And that is...
"Honey, where did you put my 1095?"
In an instant, a new government form number...1095...will be added to the general American vocabulary, and this addition will never be reversed. Also, this new form will usher in the reality that our Form 1040 (another form number which which absolutely everyone is familiar) will be additionally purposed to reconcile the subsidy we may have claimed for healthcare with that which we were due, if we purchased insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace (the "exchange"). For some, it may be a new and unhappy surprise to find a health care subsidy was claimed that was not due.
The law requires everyone to obtain health insurance. Form 1095 serves as an individual's "proof of insurance" card, like the one in the glove box of my car. Not having it will result in problems for me at filing time.
Honey, where did you put my 1095?
By Brian Terrell of BTerrell Group, LLP, Intacct and Sage ERP & CRM provider based in Dallas.
866.647.2611