It seems conservative monolith Matt Drudge is taking some pride in paying the penalty for not purchasing insurance under Obamacare. He’s even got a name for it.
Just paid the Obamacare penalty for not ‘getting covered’… I’M CALLING IT A LIBERTY TAX!
— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) March 21, 2014
There’s just one problem: Americans don’t pay a penalty for not having health insurance until they file their 2014 taxes — in 2015. So either Drudge is lying or he paid a huge penalty a year earlier than he needed to.
As this helpful IRS explainer details, Americans who go without insurance in 2014 should “make an individual shared responsibility payment with your 2014 tax return filed in 2015.”
“You will make the payment when you file your 2014 federal income tax return in 2015,” it says. That’s in part because the penalty is based on one’s annual income.
The Obama administration doesn’t currently have a mechanism for accepting individual mandate payments, which are separate from income taxes, and the exact penalties have not yet been determined, as the Huffington Post reported.
UPDATE: 5:00 p.m. ET
TPM had reached out to Drudge before publication, but Drudge responded on Twitter.
Obama team players trying to convince themselves NO Obamacare taxes due this year. Adjust your doses, face reality. http://t.co/b6ZKCQznod
— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) March 21, 2014
Dazed team Obama media reporters think Opt-Out tax ‘year away’? Not for small businesses that file Qtr estimates. We’re there NOW, baby #pay
— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) March 21, 2014
Obama media teams know they will not get audited for avoiding taxes. I don’t have this luxury. So they mock, ridicule http://t.co/Cg23N734R9
— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) March 21, 2014
If Drudge was referring to the employer mandate, it only applies to companies with more than 50 employees. They must cover a certain percentage of their employees or pay a penalty.
But companies with less than 100 employees are exempt from any penalty until 2016. Drudge has never revealed the full extent of his staff, but the Huffington Post characterized it as “small” in a 2012 article about two new hires.
Drudge has not responded to TPM’s follow-up attempts for comment.
