The deadlines coming to file tax returns, and aside from the usual headache, this year its proving particularly thorny for undocumented immigrants. Thats because, for the first time, there are penalties under the Affordable Care Act for those lacking health insurance.
But the law is complex, and when it comes to people living in the U.S. illegally, many are getting slapped with fines they shouldnt have to pay.
Adalberto Martinez, a mechanic at an auto body shop in Chicago, is one of them. Like many undocumented immigrants, Martinez pays income taxes, using an IRS-issued taxpayer identification number, called an ITIN. But this year, he noticed something different when he sat down with his tax preparer.
They told me that theres a box where you have to answer whether you have insurance or not, he explained in Spanish. So she put down that I didnt have insurance. She didnt explain to me exactly why, just that there was a box there and I didnt have insurance.
Afterwards, Martinez found he was hit with a $200 fine for not having health coverage in 2014. The official name for the penalty was the shared responsibility payment.
Most lawful U.S. residents are required to have health coverage under Obamacare, and those who dont will have to pay the penalty. But under the law, undocumented U.S. residents, like Martinez, are exempt from all that. But Martinezs story is not unique.
Weve heard from at least 10 to 15 organizations that have been hearing this issue in the community, said Luvia Quinones, health policy director at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Quinones said its not clear how many undocumented immigrants may have improperly paid the fine, but she said thousands in Illinois could be at risk.
We know that in the state of Illinois, theres about 310,000 undocumented, uninsured individuals in addition to about 70-80 thousand DACA youth that are eligible also to get their work permit, she said.
DACA youth, also known as DREAMers, are immigrants that arrived in the U.S. as children and obtained temporary relief from deportation under President Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. They have valid Social Security numbers, which could be used to file tax returns. This puts them at particular risk for mistaken penalties, because while their Social Security numbers may suggest that they are lawful U.S. residents, and therefore subject to the health care penalty, Obamacare explicitly excludes them from the health coverage requirement.
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