People filing their taxes are getting surprise fines

Tax season is coming to a close but many people are being hit with hefty unexpected fines this year instead of a return based on their health insurance.

Todd Kirchenberg with Jackson Hewitt says, \"It seems like more people are waiting this year than ever before, the IRS says filing is down 6 percent.\"

But he says many of his clients are ending up with a surprise this year because of Obamacare.

\"I've had 9 or 10 people that have had over 3-thousand dollars in penalties this year because of that.\"

He says people who bought insurance on the open market got a tax credit, called a 'premium tax credit,' where the government paid your insurance company based on your income. But if your income changed, you got married, or had children, and did not file paperwork noting the change, you could end up having to pay back that credit.

\"They're expecting a certain amount of refund they've always gotten, when they owe six thousand dollars it scares them.\"

He says the other thing surprising people is the penalty for having no insurance.

\"You get a 1-percent penalty or 95-dollars, 1-percent of your income of your income can be penalized, for health insurance for the year and next year that will go up to two percent.\"

He says all these things are leaving people wondering how they're going make ends meet.

It's too late to avoid the penalty this year, but meet with a health insurance provider to check for next year.