5.4% of tax returns fined for no health insurance

What do Bliss Township, Carp Lake Township, Detroit, Dodgeville and Wawatam Township have in common?  ZIP codes in these communities had the highest percentage of tax returns that paid the individual-mandate penalty for not having health insurance during the 2014 tax year.  A total of 209,320, or 4.5%, of individual tax returns filed in Michigan during the 2015 calendar year included a payment for not having health care coverage. Nationwide, 5.4% of returns paid the fine. Texas had the highest rate of returns with the fine — 8.9%, or more than 1 million returns, according to the latest Internal Revenue Service data.

Related: Map: Average adjusted gross income by ZIP Code​

The average fine was about $188 in Michigan; the U.S. average was $212. The fee, officially known as the individual shared responsibility payment, is calculated either per person or as a percentage of household income, and applies in general to anyone who can afford health insurance but does not buy it. People may qualify for an exemption in a number of ways, including being without coverage for fewer than three consecutive months in a year.

ZIP code 48209 in southwest Detroit had the highest percentage of returns with fines — 15.7%, or 1,460 returns for the 2014 tax year. ZIP code 49921 found in Dodgeville, an unincorporated community located in Portage Township in the Upper Peninsula, had a rate of 13.3%, or 20 returns with a fine. ZIP code 49718, which includes parts of Bliss, Carp Lake and Wawatam townships at the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula, had 12.1%, or 40 returns with fines for not having health care insurance for the 2014 tax year. Despite potential legislative changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the IRS has advised taxpayers that provisions of the ACA are still in effect — including the individual-mandate penalty.

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