Caring or not caring for myself is up to me. How is it that the government now can tell me and penalize me for not doing what they say I should do, when I don't want to?
Because you're added healthcare costs for not having insurance effects the whole country when we have people going to emergency rooms for minor things and racking up huge bills that they can't pay.
I don't believe in it simply because Health Insurance isn't really insurance, it's a payment plan. Insurance is used only when something catastrophic occurs. Each time a small scratch is needed or a tune up of your car is required, you don't issue a claim on your Car insurance. Same way with Home Owners insurance... for if you did, you'd either be dropped or your premiums would skyrocket. However, at some point, we changed Health Care to now use insurance for every little thing, which is why the system and this bill is tantamount to polishing a turd.
So a plan in which you pay into in order for it to cover something that may happen in the future isn't insurance?
You can slice it any way you want, but it's a penalty. Don't do what I say, pay a tax, or go to jail. And who makes the determination about what is or is not "severe" - you didn't answer that one.
Yea, it's a penalty. Not much point in writing a law that has no penalty and isn't enforceable. The point is though, it taxes you, it doesn't throw you in jail. If you don't pay your taxes then that's a separate matter all together.
Well people don't go to jail or pay penalty's on anecdotal "I heard of people" ... so if it's not defined that means it's a loophole which means the loophole can be exploited whenever or with whomever the IRS sees fit. It might be what you define as "severe" or it might be a begnine mistake in which a person is being made an example. Who knows... since it's left ambiguous, that means it's suspect and could be exploited or used by whomever makes the decisions. Not a good method.
It's not a loophole. The IRS still runs by whichever procedure it always has, this bill didn't change anything. The same thing happens regardless of what the taxes that didn't pay come from. I'm sure there's methods or rules in determining the penalties for not paying taxes, and going to jail is one of them, it's just not a common one.
The idea that someone will make a beginners mistake and automatically be thrown in jail is ridiculous. It shows what you owe when you do your income tax. If it says you owe, you owe, if it doesn't you don't.
So to summarize - it's still a penalty, it's still required, and jail is still possible in any/all cases.
It's a tax (which I agree can easily be considered a penalty), not required since you can opt for the penalty but yes, either one is required, and jail is possible, in some cases, but only where you willfully don't pay and the IRS can prove it.
IRS tax payments; income tax preparation and penalties; tax debts - MSN Money
"It's getting on April 15. You've finished your return, and you're still in shock. You made a lot of money and paid a lot of bills. But now you're looking at a tax bill that you just can't afford to pay.
Relax. You're not alone, and your plight is not unusual. Moreover, you're not going to jail. There are criminal penalties if the Internal Revenue Service can prove (the burden of proof is on the agency) that you intentionally didn't pay your taxes, but we'll assume that's not the case here. You just ran low on cash, and nobody goes to jail just because they owe money -- even to the IRS.
Your return is done -- that's how you know the magnitude of your debt. Send it in. Don't hold it just because you owe money that you can't pay.
You can't go to jail because you don't have the money to pay your tax bill, but you can go to jail for not filing. It's a criminal act, and you're not a criminal, so get that return in the mail."
That's the point - it doesn't say so. Since it goes to the IRS, you must pay a tax. What happens if you don't pay a Tax with the IRS? You're audited, fined and if you don't pay your fines, you go to jail. It's business as usual process for the IRS since they are the enforcement arm of the penalty.
You don't go to jail for not paying fines, if you honestly can't afford them. You go for not filing, lying on your filing on purpose, purposefully not paying even if you have the money. That's why you see all those tax guys on tv saying "do you owe the IRS 20000 dollars? call me and I'll work it out with them". These guys wouldn't have jobs if they threw everyone in jail that owed them money, right?
You're just following the little talking points because throwing out the whole "go to jail for not buying insurance" makes Obama sound bad.