7.5 million Americans paid Obamacare penalty – IRS

That suggests that once all the tax returns are finalized, the 7.5 million who have paid the penalty will have increased to 8.3 million.

About 7.5 million taxpayers so far have paid a penalty on their taxes for failing to have health insurance last year, as required for the first time by the Affordable Care Act, officials said Monday.

In total, the agency says it has collected $1.5 billion from the individual mandate penalty.

For 2014, the penalty for not signing up for healthcare was 1% of income or $95 per adult and almost $50 per child – whichever is greater. (Again, it is unclear whether a taxpayer is an individual or a household.) The report also notes that only 135 million of 150 million estimated 2014 tax returns have been submitted and processed.

The new data – included in a letter to lawmakers from IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, which he released early because of “numerous requests” – show that 76% of taxpayers indicated they had coverage for the entirety of 2014. I figured the total must be significantly higher, because each tax return would cover more than one individual. The average amount repaid was about $800.

About 2.7 million taxpayers claimed approximately $9 billion in subsidies, reporting an average subsidy of $3,400. Another 12 million had exemptions, including people whose incomes were too low and Native Americans. He said 85 percent of the taxpayers who reported a penalty still got a tax refund.

The government will be contacting all of those who may qualify for an exemption to let them know that they may have made an error. About 40 percent claimed less than $2,000, 40 percent claimed $2,000 to $5,000, and 20 percent claimed $5,000 or more. The IRS is now “analyzing these cases to determine their status”, according to a letter officials sent Congress, which is cited by CNBC.