What this line means
The annual totals row of the premium tax credit reconciliation table. This line has six columns: (a) your total enrollment premiums, (b) the applicable second lowest cost silver plan (SLCSP) premium, (c) your expected contribution amount, (d) the maximum premium assistance (column b minus column c), (e) your premium tax credit (the smaller of column a or column d), and (f) the total advance PTC paid on your behalf during the year.
Does this apply to you?
- You had the same Marketplace coverage for all 12 months with no changes in circumstances
- You are summarizing the annual totals before moving to lines 24 through 27
- You did not have a mid-year change in family size, income, or coverage
Easy to overlook
Column (b) must match the correct SLCSP premium from Form 1095-A The second lowest cost silver plan premium in column (b) comes from Form 1095-A, column B. If your 1095-A has a blank or incorrect SLCSP amount, you must look up the correct premium using the Marketplace SLCSP tool or the instructions in Publication 974. Using the wrong SLCSP premium changes your entire credit calculation because the credit is based on the gap between the benchmark plan cost and your expected contribution. 1 IRS Form 8962 Instructions — Line 11
If circumstances changed mid-year, skip line 11 and use lines 12-23 instead Line 11 is only for filers whose situation stayed the same for all 12 months. If you changed plans, added a family member, moved to a different state, or had a significant income change, you must complete the monthly lines (12 through 23) and leave line 11 blank. Putting annual totals on line 11 when you should use monthly lines produces an incorrect credit. 2 IRS Publication 974 — Premium Tax Credit
Watch out for this
Confusing the enrollment premium (column a) with what you actually paid out of pocket. Column (a) is the full premium for the plan before any advance credit is applied — not the reduced amount you paid each month. Your 1095-A, column A shows the full premium. If you enter only the amount you paid after the advance credit subsidy, you understate the enrollment premium and miscalculate the credit.
Footnotes
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IRS Form 8962 Instructions, Line 11. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8962 ↩
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IRS Publication 974, Premium Tax Credit, Annual and Monthly Calculations. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p974.pdf ↩