Form 1095-A: SLCSP, Form 8962, and Repayment Caps

Form 1095-A is the tax statement the Health Insurance Marketplace sends you if anyone in your household was enrolled in a qualified health plan through HealthCare.gov or a state exchange during the year. It reports your monthly premiums, the benchmark plan cost in your area, and any advance premium tax credit paid on your behalf. You need those numbers to complete Form 8962 and reconcile your Premium Tax Credit when you file. The Marketplace sends the form to you and to the IRS by January 31 following the coverage year.¹

Who Receives Form 1095-A

You get a 1095-A if you or a household member was enrolled in a Marketplace qualified health plan at any point during the tax year, even if you paid full price and took no subsidy.²

Two Marketplace products don’t generate a 1095-A: catastrophic plans and stand-alone dental plans. Neither qualifies for the Premium Tax Credit, so the Marketplace doesn’t report them on this form.¹ Coverage outside the Marketplace, including employer plans, Medicaid, and Medicare, produces different forms or none at all.

What’s on the Form

The form has three parts. Part I identifies the Marketplace, your policy number, and the coverage dates. Part II lists each covered individual with their start and end dates. Part III is where the tax math lives.¹

The Three Columns in Part III

Part III shows a row for each month and three dollar columns. Mixing them up is one of the most common filing errors.

Column A, Monthly Enrollment Premium: the full cost of the plan you chose, before any subsidy.
Column B, Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan (SLCSP) Premium: the monthly premium for the benchmark Silver plan in your area. It is not necessarily a plan you enrolled in. The IRS uses it to calculate the maximum credit you can receive.
Column C, Monthly Advance Payment of the Premium Tax Credit (APTC): the subsidy the government paid directly to your insurer each month.

Why the SLCSP Figure Drives Everything

Column B sets the ceiling on your credit. Your Premium Tax Credit is essentially the difference between the SLCSP premium and the amount the government expects you to contribute based on your income. If the annual SLCSP is $10,000 and your expected contribution is $4,000, the maximum credit is $6,000, whether you actually enrolled in a cheaper Bronze plan or a pricier Gold plan.

If Column B is blank or shows zero, you have to look up the correct figure yourself. HealthCare.gov’s tax tool calculates the SLCSP amounts once you enter your household and coverage details.³

Using Form 1095-A on Form 8962

If any advance premium tax credit was paid on your behalf during the year, you must file Form 8962 with your return. The IRS will flag a return missing Form 8962 when its records show APTC was paid for your coverage.⁴

Reconciliation compares what the government already paid (Column C) against the credit you actually qualify for based on your final income. You transfer the monthly figures from Form 1095-A into Part II of Form 8962, which then calculates your actual Premium Tax Credit.⁵

One of two things happens. If you received less APTC than you qualified for, the difference becomes a refundable credit that reduces your tax bill or adds to your refund. If you received more than you qualified for, you owe the excess back, and the repayment is added to your tax liability.

Repayment Caps for 2025 and the 2026 Change

For the 2025 tax year, filed in 2026, repayment of excess APTC is still limited by dollar caps tied to your household income as a percentage of the federal poverty line. The caps for 2025 are:

Income below 200% FPL: $375 single, $750 all other filing statuses
200% to under 300% FPL: $975 single, $1,950 all other
300% to under 400% FPL: $1,625 single, $3,250 all other
400% FPL or above: no cap; you repay the full excess

These figures come from Table 5 in the Form 8962 instructions.⁵

Starting with the 2026 tax year, the caps are gone. Section 71305 of Public Law 119-21 eliminated the repayment limitation for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025. If your APTC exceeds your actual Premium Tax Credit for 2026, you repay the full difference regardless of income.⁶ That makes it much more important to report income changes to the Marketplace during the year so your advance payments track what you’ll actually qualify for.

Shared Policies Across Households

When one Marketplace policy covers people who end up filing in different tax households, the 1095-A amounts have to be split. This shows up most often with divorce, legal separation, or adult children who file independently.

You and the other taxpayer can agree on any percentage split, but the same percentage must apply to all three columns. If you can’t agree, the default is 50/50.⁵ The allocation is reported in Part IV of Form 8962.

If the Form Is Late, Missing, or Wrong

The Marketplace must send the form by January 31, though the paper copy can take longer to arrive.¹ If you don’t have it by mid-February, check your online Marketplace account, where the form is often available before the mailed copy.² If it isn’t there either, call the Marketplace to request one.

Wait for the actual form before filing. Filing with estimated numbers can create processing delays that take months to sort out.⁷

If you spot an error, wrong premium amounts, incorrect months, a missing SLCSP figure, contact the Marketplace right away. Only the Marketplace can issue a corrected form, which arrives with a “CORRECTED” box checked at the top.⁷

Already filed and then found the mistake, or received a corrected form afterward? Rework the numbers on Form 8962. If the correction changes your Premium Tax Credit or the excess APTC you owe, file an amended return on Form 1040-X with a new Form 8962 attached.⁷

What Happens If You Don’t Reconcile

Skipping Form 8962 doesn’t just stall your current return. If you fail to reconcile APTC for a given tax year, you’re not eligible for advance premium tax credit payments or cost-sharing reductions the following calendar year.⁸ You would owe the full unsubsidized premium for your Marketplace plan until you file the missing return and finish reconciling. With repayment caps disappearing in the 2026 tax year, the cost of getting reconciliation wrong is higher than it has ever been.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1095-A (2025)
2
HealthCare.gov. How to Use Form 1095-A
3
HealthCare.gov. Health Coverage Tax Tool
4
Internal Revenue Service. Health Insurance Marketplace Statements
5
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8962 (2025)
6
Internal Revenue Service. One, Big, Beautiful Bill Provisions
7
Internal Revenue Service. Corrected, Incorrect or Voided Form 1095-A
8
Internal Revenue Service. Reconciling Your Advance Payments of the Premium Tax Credit