Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/472327
28 | Overdrive | March 2015 M any owner-operators are coming face to face with the Affordable Care Act's tax implications. If recent Overdrive polling is correct, about a third of all owner-oper- ators will pay extra this tax season – in many cases hundreds of dollars – for not carrying insurance through 2014. The open enrollment period for 2015 ended Feb. 15, then days later an excep- tion was announced. Those who attest they've heard about the penalty for the first time this tax season will be able to enroll when the exchanges reopen for them March 15-April 30. Those who were not covered for part of 2015 will pay at least a partial penalty in 2016. Unlike this year's initial three-month enrollment period and the six-month period the year before, the 2016 enroll- ment lasts only eight weeks and runs ear- lier in the calendar, Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. Penalties for 2014 weren't exactly stiff – $95 per adult, half that for every child As health insurance tax penalties hit many owner-operators, the prospect of paying double next year could change their decision on coverage. By Todd dills Day of reckoning Opposition to the government man- date for insurance has remained strong and consistent among about a third of Overdrive readers since the ACA was "force-fed to the American public," as insurance broker Marc Ballard puts it. Furthermore, eight in 10 readers in early 2014, whether they had health insurance or not, noted they viewed the ACA negatively.