If you are are a small entrepreneur, particularly one who has had difficulty obtaining health insurance in the past, the Affordable Care Act will give you the ability to purchase insurance for yourself and your family.
The most difficult part in navigating the health care website is the determination as to whether you are eligible for a tax credit to reduce the cost of your monthly insurance bill. For the small entrepreneur, this is made more challenging. You are asked to upload files such as a general ledger or similar documentation to prove your income. This information is then used for calculating a reduction in your monthly cost of insurance.
But check this with your own professional tax preparer: It appears as if you have the option to proceed without determining your eligibility for a subsidy, maintaining the right to claim any credit at the time you file for 2014 taxes. For most small business owners, this would be no different than paying quarterly estimated taxes and calculating your actual tax liability at the end of the year. Most cash flow their business through the year anyway, so doing this calculation at tax time shouldn’t be a really big deal.
Once you determine the insurance policy you wish to purchase, if you proceed without a determination as to eligibility for an immediate credit to reduce your monthly bill, (if you can indeed to choose to do this later), the amount of time it takes you to create your account and move forward towards purchasing insurance is greatly reduced.