Covered CA.
Dec 23, 2021
Starting in 2020, California residents must either:
Penalty Details and Exemptions
Having health coverage is the law. If you don’t have coverage, you may have to pay a penalty to the California Franchise Tax Board, unless you qualify for an exemption.
Select the links in this section to read more on this topic.
Penalty
You will have to pay a penalty, the Individual Shared Responsibility Penalty, when you file your state tax return if:
You did not have health coverage
You were not eligible for an exemption from coverage for any month of the year
The penalty for no coverage is based on:
The number of people in your household
Your California state income
Use our Penalty Estimator tool to estimate the penalty you may owe.
Sample penalty amounts for 2021-2022
Household size If you make less than You may pay
Individual Making less than - $49,76 3- You pay $800
Married Couple making less than - $92,100 - You pay $1,600
Family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children) Making less than- $142,000- You pay $2,400
The penalty for a dependent child is half of what it would be for an adult, $400, for 2021.
How to estimate
The penalty will be the higher of either:
A flat amount, based on the number of people in the tax household, or
A percentage of the household income
Flat amount
Pay $800 per adult and $400 per child.
Percentage of household income
Pay 2.5% of the amount of gross income that exceeds the filing threshold requirements based on the tax filing status and number of dependents.
Example:
A family of 3 with a gross household income of $150,000 that includes:
2 parents
1 child
Flat amount calculation
$800 per adult, $400 per child: ($800 x 2) + $400 = $2,000
Percentage of household income calculation
2.5% of gross income that exceeds filing threshold: ($150,000 - $49,763 [1]) x .025) = $2,505.93.
Penalty amount
Since the percentage of household income was higher than the flat amount, the penalty amount for this family is $2,505.93.
[1] $49,763 is the state filing threshold for a married couple, both under 65 years old with one dependent for the 2021 tax year.
https://www.ftb.ca.gov/about-ftb/newsroom/health-care-mandate/personal.html#Special-enrollment-period