An Internal Revenue Service (IRS) official, testifying before the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee yesterday, said that the Obamacare individual mandate and penalty for not purchasing health insurance are still on for 2014, but…
“Individuals who can’t afford to pay that [the penalty] don’t have to pay it,” said Mark Iwry, the IRS representative. The penalty for not having health insurance in 2014 is $95 or 1 percent of one's income, whichever is greater.
When questioned if the IRS had the authority to delay the individual mandate, Iwry said it didn't matter since the IRS believes the mandate is simple to understand and implement, unlike the twice-delayed employer shared responsibility provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), whichi s both hard to understand and hard to implement.