having to estimate income for insurance and taxes

[Dznypal]

we have insurance through the affordable care act

which is income based--weve only been on it for 2 years--2018 is the 2nd year

last year we had to give an estimate of what our income would be

so we have

DH society security
my SS
DH pension
DH works as a subistute teacher--income varies he never knows how much hell work in a given school year

I'm work on as needed in a hospital and I'm never sure how much Ill work--it depends on vactions--people leaving

so the last 2 are where the issues come in

last year we estimated a bit too low--but last year was hard since I was on unemployment Jan to MAy
went back as PRN in Oct and started SS in Sept

since we estimated to low we had to pay a penalty which I don't see how that's even right when its only an estimaite and we have no idea how much well work but that's the government

anyways I guess what I'm looking for is what is the best way to do this casuse if we estimate to high well get the difference back on our taxes but well be paying more each month for insurance since our estimation is high

or like last year where we estimated to low and had to pay it back on our taxes plus penality

this is all so confusing

anyone else have to estimate their income while on Obamacare or any tips on how to avoid getting a penilaty

thanks all

 

[PatMcDuck]

For my daughter, I estimated her income too high on purpose. I did not want her using the (free) Medicaid that was available, I wanted her to have private insurance under ACA. (background: she was a college student kicked off her Dad's insurance because she was 21 or 22?( I forget) and he is retired and that is a loophole to the "stay on parents insurance until age 26" rule). She worked part time. FT college student. She had no current health issues, but had a history as a teen, aged 15-20 with serious health problems.

I preferred to pay $100-200 a month to have access to more of a choice of doctors. (she could not even afford that much, we paid it. She was no longer a dependent). Anyway, there is no penalty to estimating too high. She actually got some $$ back because she made less than expected. (honestly when you work PT, it is hard to estimate income).

Not sure if this is helpful. She is now out of school, working FT, and has work provided insurance.