What Your 1095-A Tax Form Is Telling You and What Happens If You Misread It at Filing

Every marketplace enrollee who received an advance premium tax credit gets a Form 1095-A from the exchange in January. Most people pass it straight to a tax preparer without looking at it. That's fine, until the preparer doesn't know there's a 1095-A, files without Form 8962, and the client gets an IRS notice six months later asking why the credit wasn't reconciled. This happens more often than it should.

Three Columns, One Reconciliation

The 1095-A has three monthly columns that matter. Column A is what your plan premium actually cost each month. Column B is the second-lowest-cost Silver plan premium in your area, the federal benchmark. Column C is how much the federal government paid your insurer on your behalf each month.

Column C is what gets reconciled on Form 8962. When you enrolled, you estimated your annual income and the marketplace calculated an advance credit based on that estimate. At tax time, the IRS compares what was paid against what your credit should have been based on your actual Modified Adjusted Gross Income. If you earned more than projected, your credit was too large and you owe the difference. If you earned less, you may be owed a refund.

The Repayment Cap and Where It Ends

If your final income falls between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level, your repayment of excess credits is capped by income tier. The caps for 2026 run from roughly $375 for a single filer at the lower end to $1,550 near 400% FPL. Families face roughly double those caps. KFF analysis found about 40% of marketplace enrollees who received advance credits owed money back at filing, averaging around $800 — within the cap range for most.

Above 400% FPL , which is around $63,000 for a single person in 2026; the cap disappears entirely. You repay the full difference. With the enhanced subsidy expiration in 2026 returning the hard subsidy cliff, anyone whose income came in above 400% FPL is looking at full repayment with no ceiling. A Roth conversion, a capital gain, or an unexpectedly strong freelance year can push someone over that line without them realizing it until tax season.

The Errors That Trigger IRS Notices

Failing to file Form 8962 at all is the most common trigger — usually because the filer didn't realize marketplace coverage requires reconciliation, or the tax software didn't prompt for it. The IRS independently receives 1095-A data from the exchange and will catch the omission.

Mismatched Social Security numbers between the 1095-A and the tax return are the second-most common issue; a household member covered by the plan who isn't listed on the return. The third is an incorrect benchmark Silver plan premium in Column B, which does occasionally contain errors from the exchange system. If the figures in Column B look unusually high or low, compare them against the current benchmark Silver premium for your household size and zip code using the healthcare.gov comparison tool.

If Something Is Wrong

Log into your healthcare.gov account. The Tax Forms section has electronic copies of your 1095-A even if the mailed version was lost or went to the wrong address. If the figures look incorrect, contact the marketplace directly and request a corrected form before filing. Correcting after the fact requires an amended return — manageable, but slower and more work.

An accurate income estimate at enrollment significantly reduces the chance of a tax-time reconciliation problem. Compass Health Consultants® helps clients think through income projections during enrollment, not just plan selection. Visit https://www.chcquotes.com/getyourquote