It’s always a good idea to prepare early to file your federal income tax return. Like last year, certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act affect your federal income tax return when you file this year.

Here are two things you should know about the health care law’s coverage and reporting requirements that will help you get ready to file your tax return.

• The Affordable Care Act requires that you and each member of your family have qualifying health insurance coverage for each month of the year, qualify for an exemption from the coverage requirement, or make an individual shared responsibility payment when filing your federal income tax return.
• Most taxpayers will simply check a box on their tax return to indicate that each member of their family had qualifying health coverage for the whole year. No further action is required. Use the chart on gov/aca to find out if your insurance counts as qualifying coverage.

You or your tax professional should consider preparing and filing your tax return electronically. Using tax preparation software is the easiest way to file a complete and accurate tax return. There are a variety of electronic filing options, including free volunteer assistance, IRS Free File for taxpayers who qualify, commercial software, and professional assistance.

For more information about the Affordable Care Act and your 2015 income tax return, visit IRS.gov/aca.

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