The tax thing and the penalty for my Son not having insurance inadvertantly became a distraction from some
other aspects of the Tax process that I usually follow, like making sure all of the normal forms are attached to the end product. Somehow in the fray, two were left off during the copy process. One was not significant, the other was an exploding hand grenade that tipped my world totally upside down. Fortunately it was resolved without the "Death" part, however I have a giant NOTE to Self: MAKE a check list of every form required to be submitted with your return...Then make sure those forms are there when you do the actual "stuffing" of them into their sweet little envelope. Save yourself from any future drama involved in this particular type of "humor".
Back to the penalty...Following the instructions for this, I applied for an exemption for my Son via the
"Marketplace". There were 3 specific things that applied to his/my situation. To the best of my being able to understand what they wanted, I supplied the documentation that was asked for. I received one phone call/voice message saying they needed more information but they did not say what they needed. The person calling did say they would call back and left a phone number in the message to call with any questions and to get more information. That phone number turned out to be the 1-800 number on the bottom of the application. First, I tried to call the number that left the message. That number did not take incoming calls. I called the 1-800 number and after nearly one hour of being told they had no idea what I was talking about and checking with Supervisors to find someone or a phone number that could assist, we simply had to end the call as there was no information to be found. All I could do was wait for the next phone call and hope that I was home. The call never came. A few days later, I received a letter
that said the same thing, we don't have all the information we need to make a decision, if you have any questions call the same 1-800. That's it. NO mention of what information was needed, no list, no personal call back number, no way to get help. Total Stonewall. Total Joke. I resubmitted the application with all the same stuff plus one update. Same thing happened. After a couple of weeks I got one phone call that was made while I was gone with the same info in the voice mail that they would call back and to call that 1-800 number for more information. This process began in February, I submitted twice, twice I received phone message and written notice that they needed more information. The letter says if they don't get the information they need, the exemption will be denied. This is a pretty good deal for them as to this day no one has bothered to tell me what additional information was needed.
I do know that when I did my taxes I could have put "pending" on the line for that entry, however my gut said
to just figure the penalty and pay it cuz you will never hear back from the "Marketplace". It's a good thing
I did figure the penalty or the return would still be hung up for an additional twist.
I don't know how all of you fared with this new penalty for failing to have insurance. I personally did have insurance, however my dependent Son did not. Maybe you are all fortunate enough to be having everything going
pretty normally in your life and this does not affect you. I am very happy for you if that's the case.
Obviously, my situation is not pretty normal. The formulae and method to figure the Penalty is confusing, disorienting and is nothing more than another giant time waster just like the application process for an excemption and it's results. At some point in the whole process it began to dawn on me that with this much confusion, disorientation, misinformation and lack of information, I was in the midst of a "Misdirect" of gargantuan porportions. It is my own interesting Point of View that these are nothing more than smokescreens to keep us from fully recognizing that this is a glorified way to obtain a new "tax" on the segment of the population that may already be struggling and that can least afford it. That's all it is, another way to get your dollar without actually "increasing the Tax Rate".