Tax year 2026 · Form 8962 · Updated October 24, 2026

Will you have to pay back your premium tax credit?

If the advance credit paid on your 2026 marketplace plan was more than your final income allows, you pay back all of it on your 2026 return. The old repayment caps ended with 2025. Enter your Form 1095-A totals and your actual income to see the number before you file.

Your 2026 numbers

Stays on this page

AState you lived in

BPeople in your tax familyYou, your spouse if filing jointly, and everyone you claim as a dependent

C2026 household incomeAdjusted gross income plus untaxed Social Security, tax-exempt interest and excluded foreign income

D1095-A column A totalYour plan's premiums for the year

E1095-A column B totalBenchmark (second-lowest-cost silver) premiums

F1095-A column C totalAdvance credit paid

2026 reconciliation worksheet

Annual totals

1Tax family sizeForm 8962 line 11

2Household income for 2026Line 3: your MAGI plus any dependents who had to file$58,000

32025 poverty line for your family sizeLine 4: the guideline used for 2026 coverage$15,650

4Income as a percent of the poverty lineLine 5371%

5Applicable figureLine 7, from the 2026 IRS table9.9600%

6Your annual contributionLine 8a: line 2 times line 5$5,777

7Benchmark plan premium for the year1095-A column B, summed$8,200

8Most credit you could getLine 7 minus line 6$2,423

9Credit allowedLesser of line 8 and your actual premiums (column A)$2,423

10Advance credit paid to your insurer1095-A column C, summed$4,756

11You pay backLine 10 minus line 9, if positive. Goes on Schedule 2$2,333

12Extra credit you getLine 9 minus line 10, if positive$0

Worked example: a single filer in Florida estimated $40,000 when enrolling, so the marketplace paid $4,756 in advance credit. Income came in at $58,000, so the allowed credit is $2,423 and $2,333 goes back.

An estimate for a full year with the same household and plan every month. If anything changed during 2026, Form 8962 works month by month; use tax software or a tax professional. This is not tax advice, and HealthInsurance.help is not affiliated with the IRS or any marketplace.

What changed for 2026 returns

Through 2025, a household under 400% of the poverty line paid back at most a few hundred to a few thousand dollars no matter how far off its estimate was. Section 71305 of Pub. L. 119-21, signed July 4, 2025, removed those limits starting with tax year 2026. The IRS repeated it in proposed rules published October 15, 2026: the full excess is added to your tax.

In the example above, the filer earned $18,000 more than estimated. Under the old cap for that income range the bill would have been limited; now it is the full $2,333. Had income reached $63,000, just over the 400% line of $62,600, the whole $4,756 would go back.

Why the estimate and the final number differ

The marketplace pays your insurer each month based on the income you projected when you applied. Your tax return uses what you actually earned. Common reasons the two split: a raise or new job, a spouse's income you left out, freelance work that took off, a Roth conversion, a large capital gain, or Social Security that started mid-year. Any of these can push income over 400% of the poverty line, and then all the advance credit is paid back.

How to cut the bill before you file

Traditional IRA. You can make a 2026 contribution until the April 2027 filing deadline. It lowers adjusted gross income dollar for dollar if you can deduct it.
HSA. If you were on an HSA-eligible plan in 2026 (bronze marketplace plans count starting in 2026), contributions made by the filing deadline also lower income.
Self-employed health insurance deduction. If you were self-employed, part of your premium may be deductible, which lowers income, which raises the credit. The IRS's Publication 974 has an iterative method for this.
Check column B. The benchmark premium on your 1095-A sets the size of your credit. If you moved or someone joined the household, it may be wrong. HealthCare.gov's tax tool shows the right figure.

For 2027, report changes as they happen

If your income changes during 2027, update your application on HealthCare.gov or your state exchange within 30 days. The advance credit adjusts for the rest of the year, which keeps the April surprise small. You can also take less than the full credit in advance and claim the rest when you file.

To estimate next year's credit, use the 2027 subsidy calculator.

Sources: 26 U.S.C. 36B; Pub. L. 119-21, section 71305; IRS proposed regulations, 91 FR 65494 (October 15, 2026); IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-25 (2026 applicable percentages); HHS 2025 poverty guidelines (Federal Register, January 17, 2025); 26 CFR 1.36B-2(b)(6); IRS Form 8962 instructions.

Questions people ask

Is there still a cap on paying back the premium tax credit?

Not for 2026 coverage. Pub. L. 119-21, section 71305, struck the repayment limits in 26 U.S.C. 36B(f)(2)(B) for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025. Your 2026 return, filed in 2027, adds the full excess to your tax. Caps still applied to 2025 and earlier years.

Where do I find the numbers for this calculator?

On Form 1095-A, which the marketplace sends by January 31. Column A is the monthly premium of your plan, column B is the benchmark plan premium, and column C is the advance credit paid. Add each column across the months you were covered. If column B is blank or wrong, get the right figure from the tax tool on HealthCare.gov or your state exchange.

What if my income went over 400% of the poverty line?

Then no credit is allowed for 2026, and every dollar of advance credit is added to your tax. For one person that line is $62,600 of household income (400% of the 2025 guideline of $15,650).

Can I lower my 2026 income now to owe less?

A traditional IRA contribution for 2026 can be made until the April 2027 filing deadline, and HSA contributions also count until then if you had an HSA-eligible plan. Both reduce the income Form 8962 uses. 401(k) contributions had to come out of 2026 paychecks.