The 'Silent' But Risky Way to Protest Obamacare This Tax Season

This tax season, millions of Americans are supposed to pay a penalty if they don’t have health insurance. At least, that’s what the Affordable Care Act requires. As the April filing deadline approaches, however, Americans have reasons to think they might get away with not paying what they owe.

After President Donald Trump took office, the Internal Revenue Service changed the way it handled the health coverage question on tax returns. Initially this tax season, the agency was automatically rejecting "silent" tax returns—those that didn't indicate whether the taxpayer had insurance coverage. The IRS reversed course a few weeks after Trump, on his first day in office, ordered agencies to ease the burdens of complying with the ACA. The unsuccessful Congressional effort to repeal and replace the ACA only added to the confusion.