Client Advisory - ACA - Repayment of advance premium

[Strongsilence-CPA]

request for advice, thoughts, ideas, tools, suggestions, 

Every year a few clients (I am in California) incur a surprise "tax" from the excess advance premium tax credit repayment.  The situation comes from applying for the ACA health insurance PRIOR to knowing that their income will be higher in the following tax year.  In what ways do you, as an advisor:

anticipate this situation?

communicate with clients?

advise clients?

[TaxGuyBill]

I'm not good at this, but maybe encourage clients to contact you when they lose or change jobs?

People typically sign up for Marketplace insurance when they lose their current insurance through a job.  If they contact you when they lose or change jobs, you can ask about health insurance and/or help them fill out a new W-4 for their new job.

[Strongsilence-CPA]

maybe encourage clients to contact you when they lose or change jobs?

I think this is useful.

The client contact and communication, if packaged and "sold" by me as a real valued-added advisory engagement, will be a way for me to increase my billings.

Thank you.

[IRonMaN]

The safest route is to tell them to always overestimate their income.  Lower income is pleasant when doing their returns, underestimating income can be very unpleasant for those receiving advance payments.

[abctax55]

If they report the increase in income, the subsidy will go DOWN (they'll pay more each month).  AND they are supposed to report income changes (shrug).

So it's a matter of pay more each month, or pay it at the end with the tax return.  Baring any underpayment penalties, is 'just' a cash flow issue.

That is, unless/until the fact they are consistently not following the rules &  reporting income changes (mainly increased income) is noticed/recognized and some form of penalty assessed.