Do you qualify for the Health Coverage Tax Credit?
The Internal Revenue Service estimates that 22,700 New Yorkers qualify for the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC), but only 900 were enrolled as of last year.
This credit makes health coverage more affordable by allowing eligible individuals to pay only 20% of their health insurance premiums each month.
More than 2,000 workers in the State of New York have been affected by trade certified companies within the last two months. Some of the most recently trade certified companies in Upstate New York include Norbord Industries, Inc., Bank of America Corporation, and CWR Manufacturing Corporation (January 2010), Faradyne Motors, LLC, and Crucible Specialty Corporation (December 2009.
The IRS is sponsoring public outreach events to assist taxpayers who may be eligible for the HCTC. The events will be from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, February 10th and 11th, at the Comfort Inn & Suites 6701 Buckley Road, Syracuse, NY 13212
The sessions start at 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. HCTC representatives will be available from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Nationwide, thousands of people are potentially eligible for the program. Some of them are displaced workers who are certified by the Department of Labor as eligible to receive Trade Readjustment Allowances under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act (TAA). Others qualify because they receive benefits from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and are between 55 and 65 years of age.
People who are Medicare-eligible do not qualify for the HCTC.
The HCTC Program partners with various federal and state agencies and Health Plan Administrators (HPAs) to deliver the tax credit to eligible individuals.
The HCTC is available on a monthly basis to help individuals pay their health insurance costs as they become due or on a yearly basis when they file their federal tax return. The HCTC is a refundable tax credit - it is paid in full no matter how much federal income tax an eligible individual owes.
The HCTC began as a ground breaking tax credit program in 2002 and in 2009 was expanded as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
For more information, call 1-866-628-HCTC or visit IRS.gov and search for HCTC.
Information in this article comes from the Internal Revenue Service.
