Only one form in the 1095 series has to travel with your federal tax return, and even it doesn’t go in directly. If you or someone in your household had Marketplace coverage, you’ll get Form 1095-A and use its numbers to fill out Form 8962, which you attach to your Form 1040. Forms 1095-B and 1095-C are yours to keep. The IRS explicitly says not to send them.1Internal Revenue Service. Gathering Your Health Coverage Documentation for the Tax Filing Season So the short answer to whether you need to include a 1095 with your tax return is no for the physical form itself, but yes to the follow-on paperwork if you had Marketplace coverage.
If You Received Form 1095-A
Marketplaces send Form 1095-A by January 31 following the coverage year to anyone who enrolled in a plan through HealthCare.gov or a state exchange.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1095-A (2025) The form reports three numbers the IRS cares about: your monthly enrollment premiums, the benchmark premium for the second-lowest-cost silver plan in your area, and any advance premium tax credit payments made to your insurer on your behalf.3HealthCare.gov. How to Use Form 1095-A, Health Insurance Marketplace Statement
You feed those numbers into Form 8962 to reconcile the premium tax credit. Reconciliation compares the advance help you got during the year against what you were actually entitled to based on your final income. Lower income than you estimated at enrollment can mean a larger credit; higher income can mean paying some of the advance help back.4Internal Revenue Service. Eligibility for the Premium Tax Credit Once Form 8962 is complete, it goes behind your Form 1040. Tax software attaches it automatically; paper filers include it in the packet.
Can’t find your 1095-A? Log into your Marketplace account and check the messages or tax documents area, or call the Federally Facilitated Marketplace at 800-318-2596 for a replacement.5Internal Revenue Service. Corrected, Incorrect or Voided Form 1095-A
What Happens If You Skip Form 8962
The IRS doesn’t just flag a missing Form 8962. If its records show you received advance premium tax credit payments and your return arrives without the reconciliation, the electronic filing system rejects the return under business rule F8962-070.6Internal Revenue Service. How to Correct an Electronically Filed Return Rejected for a Missing Form 8962 The return isn’t considered filed until you fix and resubmit it, and any refund stalls in the meantime.
The other consequence hits your insurance. If you fail to reconcile your advance payments for a tax year, the Marketplace will cut off your advance premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions for the following calendar year.7Internal Revenue Service. Reconciling Your Advance Payments of the Premium Tax Credit You’d pay the full premium out of pocket until you file the missing form and eligibility is restored. People often don’t discover the problem until a much higher insurance bill lands months later.
Forms 1095-B and 1095-C: Keep Them, Don’t Send Them
Form 1095-B comes from a health insurance provider — a private insurer, Medicaid, or another entity offering minimum essential coverage. Form 1095-C comes from large employers (generally those with 50 or more full-time employees) and shows what coverage was offered, whether you enrolled, and for which months.8Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers About Health Care Information Forms for Individuals (Forms 1095-A, 1095-B and 1095-C) Insurance providers file this information directly with the IRS under 26 U.S.C. § 6055, so the agency already has it.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6055 Reporting of Health Insurance Coverage
You can file your return without having received either form.1Internal Revenue Service. Gathering Your Health Coverage Documentation for the Tax Filing Season There is no federal tax penalty for lacking health coverage; that payment dropped to $0 starting in 2019.10HealthCare.gov. Exemptions From the Fee for Not Having Coverage The forms still have uses. If you enrolled in Marketplace coverage after leaving an employer, information in Part II of Form 1095-C can help determine whether the employer’s coverage was considered affordable, which affects your eligibility for the premium tax credit.8Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers About Health Care Information Forms for Individuals (Forms 1095-A, 1095-B and 1095-C)
How Long to Hold On to Them
The general IRS rule is to keep records for three years from the date you filed the return they relate to, or two years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later. If you underreported income by more than 25%, the IRS can look back six years.11Internal Revenue Service. How Long Should I Keep Records Three years is the safe minimum for most people’s 1095-B and 1095-C forms.
If Your 1095-A Is Wrong or Voided
Errors on Form 1095-A do happen: wrong Social Security numbers, incorrect coverage dates, premiums that don’t match what you paid. If you find a mistake, contact your Marketplace right away for a corrected form. Before filing, check that every covered household member’s identifying information and coverage months line up with your own records.5Internal Revenue Service. Corrected, Incorrect or Voided Form 1095-A
If you haven’t filed yet, use the corrected form when completing Form 8962. If you already filed and then receive a corrected 1095-A, you may need to amend with Form 1040-X. Changes to premium amounts, SLCSP figures, advance credit payments, covered months, or the number and ages of covered individuals all warrant an amended return. Changes limited to names and Social Security numbers generally do not.5Internal Revenue Service. Corrected, Incorrect or Voided Form 1095-A
A voided 1095-A, either with the “VOID” box checked or accompanied by a letter telling you to disregard the original, typically means the Marketplace determined you never completed enrollment or the plan didn’t qualify for the premium tax credit. Neither the voided form nor the original should be used to file. If you believe the void was an error, contact the Marketplace immediately. If you already filed using the original and later receive a voided form, file an amended return to correct the premium tax credit claim.5Internal Revenue Service. Corrected, Incorrect or Voided Form 1095-A
Part-Year Marketplace Coverage
Coverage that started or ended mid-year gets handled month by month on Form 8962. Check “No” on line 10, skip line 11, and fill in only the rows for the months you were actually enrolled (lines 12–23), leaving the other months blank.12Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8962 Your total credit is the sum of the monthly amounts. Filling in all 12 months when you were only enrolled for part of the year will calculate a credit for months you weren’t eligible, which triggers an IRS notice and potentially a bill.
A Note on State Coverage Rules
Federal rules are only half the picture. A handful of states and the District of Columbia have their own coverage mandates with real financial penalties, and they generally let you self-report your coverage months on the state return rather than attaching the 1095. The forms still matter more in those states because they’re your proof if the state tax agency questions your coverage. Check your state tax authority’s rules for the specifics that apply to you.