With tax season around the corner (and open enrollment still going), I wanted to break down why so many people end up owing the IRS because of ACA/Obamacare health insurance. If you’re on a Marketplace plan, you’re probably getting a subsidy—also called a Premium Tax Credit—and it’s applied every month to lower your premium. The catch is that the amount you get is based on the income you estimate on your application, and that gets “trued up” later when you file taxes using your 1095-A. In the video, I explain how the repayment works in plain English: if you received more tax credit during the year than you should have based on your final adjusted gross income, you pay the difference back. Example: you got $500/month but should’ve gotten $400/month—now you’re $100/month off, and if you had coverage all 12 months, that’s $1,200 owed at tax time. For tax year 2025, repayment caps still exist depending on your income bracket, but for tax year 2026 (filed in 2027) those caps are removed, which can lead to a much bigger bill if your income estimate is wrong. My takeaway: estimate income carefully, update your application when things change, and don’t guess—this is exactly how people get hit with hundreds or thousands back to the IRS.