Taxpayers will need to prove they have insurance under the new Health Care Law, and the IRS is planning to hire thousands of people to make sure that you comply with that law.
The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold most of President Obama’s Health Care Law will hit home for most taxpayers in about 2 to 2 ½ years when they have to start providing proof on their tax returns that they have health insurance.
This puts the IRS at the center of the storm. Many are raising questions about whether the agency is capable of policing the health care decisions of millions of people, while also collecting the taxes needed to run the Federal Government.
Under this new law, the IRS will provide tax breaks and incentives to help you and I pay for the health insurance we are required to have. The IRS will also impose penalties on the people who don’t buy coverage, and on some businesses that don’t offer it to their employees.
It will come as no surprise that these changes will require new regulations, new forms, new publications, new computer programs, and on top of it all, new programs to explain it all to taxpayers and tax professionals.
The Health Care Law “includes the largest set of tax law changes in more than 20 years” according to the Treasury Inspector General who oversees the IRS. The IRS will have to hire thousands of workers to manage it, which of course will require a significant increase in their budget, which was already being targeted by Congress as something they wanted to reduce.
Representative Charles Boustany Jr., a Republican, out of Louisiana, and the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee, stated “knowing the complexity of the Health Law, there is no question that the IRS is going to struggle with this.”
Keep in mind that the Supreme Court primarily upheld the law based upon Congress’s power to tax. The so-called penalty for not obtaining the health insurance or businesses not providing it is treated by the Supreme Court as a tax. Thus it falls under the IRS.
en Stauffenger has been recognized by multiple publications as being among the top Attorneys in the State of Ohio. His practice is Nationwide and represents taxpayers across the Country. His number is 1-877-349-8297