26 CFR §1.5000A-4
Verified against eCFR.gov as of June 20, 2026View official text on eCFR.gov ↗
- (a)In general. For each taxable year, the shared responsibility payment imposed on a taxpayer in accordance with § 1.5000A-1(c) is the lesser of—
- (b)Monthly penalty amount
- (1)In general. Monthly penalty amount means, for a month that a nonexempt individual is not covered under minimum essential coverage, 1/12 multiplied by the greater of—
- (2)Flat dollar amount
- (i)In general. Flat dollar amount means the lesser of—
- (A)The sum of the applicable dollar amounts for all individuals included in the taxpayer's shared responsibility family; or
- (B)300 percent of the applicable dollar amount (determined without regard to paragraph (b)(2)(iii) of this section) for the calendar year with or within which the taxable year ends.
- (ii)Applicable dollar amount. Except as provided in paragraphs (b)(2)(iii) and (b)(2)(iv) of this section, the applicable dollar amount is—
- (iii)Special applicable dollar amount for individuals under age 18. If an individual has not attained the age of 18 before the first day of a month, the applicable dollar amount for the individual is equal to one-half of the applicable dollar amount (as expressed in paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of this section) for the calendar year in which the month occurs. For purposes of this paragraph (b)(2)(iii), an individual attains the age of 18 on the anniversary of the date when the individual was born. For example, an individual born on March 1, 1999, attains the age of 18 on March 1, 2017.
- (iv)Indexing of applicable dollar amount. In any calendar year after 2016, the applicable dollar amount is $695 as increased by the product of $695 and the cost-of-living adjustment determined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year. For purposes of this paragraph (b)(2)(iv), the cost-of-living adjustment is determined by substituting “calendar year 2015” for “calendar year 1992” in section 1(f)(3)(B). If any increase under this paragraph (b)(2)(iv) is not a multiple of $50, the increase is rounded down to the next lowest multiple of $50.
- (i)In general. Flat dollar amount means the lesser of—
- (3)Excess income amount
- (c)Monthly national average bronze plan premium. Monthly national average bronze plan premium means, for a month for which a shared responsibility payment is imposed, 1/12 of the annual national average premium for qualified health plans that have a bronze level of coverage, would provide coverage for the taxpayer's shared responsibility family members who do not have minimum essential coverage for the month, and are offered through Exchanges for plan years beginning in the calendar year with or within which the taxable year ends.
- (d)Examples. The following examples illustrate the provisions of this section. In each example the taxpayer's taxable year is a calendar year and all members of the taxpayer's shared responsibility family are ineligible for any of the exemptions described in § 1.5000A-3 for a month.