The federal government sent inaccurate tax information to approximately 800,000 people who signed up for health insurance through HealthCare.gov, according to The New York Times.
The forms contained incorrect benchmark premiums, which are used with projected incomes to determine the tax credits consumers will receive to subsidize the cost of their premiums. The mistake is akin to an employer inaccurately reporting wages paid to an employee or a corporation misreporting dividends paid to a stockholder, according to the report. Such information is used when calculating taxes.
Federal officials do not know why the error occurred and are urging affected taxpayers to wait to file tax returns until the errors are corrected, according to the report, which adds corrected tax information is expected to be sent out the first week of March.
The Obama administration has also approved a "special enrollment period" from March 15 to April 30 for people who may face penalties for not purchasing health insurance last year, according to the report.
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