What happens if I go one dollar over 400% of the poverty line?
The credit stops — all of it Source 1: IRC §36B — the premium tax credit, the 400% limit and the applicable percentage, verified 8 Aug 2026. The enhanced credits expired on 31 December 2025, and for 2026 IRC §36B is back to a hard limit rather than a taper. A household at 400.00% of the poverty line receives a credit; a household at 400.01% receives nothing. The Cliff Meter above draws that as what it is: a shelf that ends in a sheer face. The distance is stated in dollars of income because dollars are the unit the decision gets made in — an invoice, a bonus, a Roth conversion, a capital gain.
What counts as MAGI for the marketplace?
Adjusted gross income, plus tax-exempt interest, plus excluded foreign earned income, plus the non-taxable portion of Social Security benefits. Those three add-backs are how people cross the edge without noticing: municipal bond interest and untaxed Social Security both count toward the marketplace figure even though neither is taxed. Marketplace MAGI is also not the same MAGI that governs IRA deductibility, which is a second reliable source of expensive surprises. The builder above walks each box and shows the running total.
Do I have to pay back my advance premium tax credit?
For 2026, every excess dollar of it — at any income Source 2: Pub. L. 119-21 §71305 — repeal of the advance-credit repayment limitation, effective for tax years after 2025, verified 15 Aug 2026. The statutory repayment limitation that used to cap the damage for lower incomes was struck outright for tax years beginning after 31 December 2025, so a household at 250% of the poverty line now repays the whole overpayment just as a household one dollar over the edge does. Enter the advance credit you already receive and the planner shows the exact exposure, flagged in red, while there is still time to act on it.
How do I lower my MAGI before 31 December?
With pre-tax money, usually. Traditional 401(k), HSA, deductible IRA and SEP-IRA contributions each reduce MAGI dollar for dollar, and the self-employed can also claim the health-insurance deduction — which is circular with the credit itself and has to be solved by the IRS iterative method rather than in one pass. The ranked table above orders every lever by cents of credit recovered per dollar committed, using the room you actually have left this year. Income timing is flagged for a conversation with a professional and never auto-advised.
What about the 250% cost-sharing boundary?
A second, smaller ledge Source 3: HHS poverty guidelines — the poverty line used for 2026 coverage, verified 8 Aug 2026. Below 250% of the poverty line, a Silver plan carries a cost-sharing reduction worth 94%, 87% or 73% actuarial value — lower deductibles and lower out-of-pocket maximums, not a lower premium. Cross it and the premium credit continues while the cost-sharing help stops. It appears on the meter as the step in the ground under the credit curve.
Where do these numbers come from?
A deterministic engine with no AI anywhere in the calculation path. Money is held in integer cents, percentages in basis points, and every threshold, band and limit lives in versioned JSON with a citation and a verification date — so when Congress changes the rule, one file changes and every page follows. Benchmark Silver premiums in this build are sample data for six counties while the CMS county file is wired up, and the sources page lists exactly which figures are still awaiting primary-source verification. Read the methodology for every formula, including the iterative self-employed health-insurance case.