Obamacare Subsidy Calculator 2027: Your Premium Tax Credit and the 400% Cliff

The marketplace tax credit, often called the Obamacare subsidy, pays the part of a benchmark silver plan’s price that is more than a set share of your household income. The extra help Congress gave for 2021 to 2025 was not extended, so for 2026 and 2027 coverage the credit stops completely if your household income is even one dollar over 400% of the poverty line.

Was the extra help for 2021 to 2025 extended?

No. The extra help ended on December 31, 2025, and no law has brought it back. For 2021 through 2025, the law that sets up the credit, 26 U.S.C. 36B, had no income limit at the top. It expected no one to pay more than 8.5% of income for the benchmark plan, and it expected people up to 150% of the poverty line to pay nothing. The law said those rules were for 2021 through 2025 only.

For 2026 and 2027 coverage, the original rules are back:

• There is no credit at all above 400% of the poverty line.
• Everyone who gets the credit is expected to pay a share of their income for the benchmark plan, even at the lowest incomes, and the shares are higher than before. The IRS sets them each year: Rev. Proc. 2025-25 for 2026 and Rev. Proc. 2026-26 for 2027.
• A separate 2025 law, Public Law 119-21, ended the limits on paying back advance payments that turn out too high, from tax year 2026 (section 71305).

One bill to extend the extra help has moved in Congress. H.R. 1834, as the House passed it on January 8, 2026, by 230 votes to 196, would keep the extra help, with no top income limit, through 2028. It was placed on the Senate’s calendar on February 10, 2026. Congress’s status record for the bill, last updated September 8, 2026, shows no action after that and no law number.

We also searched every law enacted after the July 2025 tax law, up to the newest one published, dated October 22, 2026. None of them changes the credit. The IRS’s proposed rule of October 15, 2026, and other government documents published later that month, still describe the 400% limit as the law.

How is the premium tax credit worked out?

The credit is the monthly price of a benchmark plan minus the share of your income you are expected to pay, under 26 CFR 1.36B-3. It takes five steps:

1. Household income. This is your modified adjusted gross income for the year: the adjusted gross income on your tax return, plus Social Security that is not taxed, tax-exempt interest and any foreign income you left out. Add the same for anyone in your tax household who has to file a return. SSI does not count (26 CFR 1.36B-1).
2. Your percent of the poverty line. Divide your household income by the poverty line for your household size.
3. Your expected share. Find that percent in the IRS table below. In a band where the share changes, it rises in a straight line, rounded to the nearest hundredth of a percent.
4. Your expected payment. Your share times your household income, divided by 12, is what you are expected to pay each month for the benchmark plan.
5. Your credit. Take your expected payment away from the benchmark plan’s monthly price. If nothing is left, there is no credit.

The tax credit is the benchmark plan's premium minus this share of income. Below 100% of the poverty line there is no credit (Medicaid is meant to cover people there). A job offer of coverage that costs the worker no more than 10.22% of household income rules the credit out.

Sources: Rev. Proc. 2026-26 (2027 applicable percentage table and required contribution percentage) (IRS); 26 U.S.C. 36B, United States Code 2024 edition (before Public Law 119-21) (GPO (govinfo)); 26 CFR 1.36B-3 (computing the premium assistance amount; applicable percentage) (eCFR); IRS FS-2025-10 (23 Dec 2025; individual answers updated 19 Feb 2026): Questions and answers on the Premium Tax Credit (IRS). Checked October 31, 2026.

Look at the first two rows of the table. The share jumps at 133% of the poverty line, so just above that line the expected payment is a little higher than just below it.

The benchmark plan is the second-lowest-cost silver plan offered on your marketplace where you live. Its price is worked out for the ages of the people in your household who need coverage, and it leaves out any extra charge for tobacco use. For a family, at most the three oldest children under 21 are counted in the price (45 CFR 147.102). The IRS’s questions and answers on the premium tax credit go through these rules one by one.

You do not have to buy the benchmark plan. The credit is worked out from the benchmark, and you can use it on another marketplace plan, though not on a catastrophic plan. If your plan costs more than the benchmark, you pay the difference too. If it costs less, you pay less, but the credit can never be more than your plan’s price.

Which year’s poverty line counts for my coverage?

Each coverage year uses the poverty guidelines published in the year before it (26 CFR 1.36B-1(h)). Coverage in 2026 is measured against the 2025 guidelines, and coverage in 2027 against the 2026 guidelines. Alaska and Hawaii have higher guidelines of their own, and the calculator uses them for those states.

Programs use these lines as a yardstick: Medicaid for adults at 138%, many child care and energy programs at 150% to 200%, and so on.

Source: Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines (91 FR 1797-1798, FR Doc. 2026-00755, 15 Jan 2026) (Federal Register / HHS Office of the Secretary). Checked October 31, 2026.

The limit for coverage in one year uses the guidelines of the year before: for 2027 coverage, 400% of the 2026 guidelines is $63,840 a year for one person, $86,560 for two, $109,280 for three and $132,000 for four, in the 48 states and DC. Your household size is the number of people in your tax household: you, your spouse if you are married and file together, and the people you claim as dependents.

What is the 400% cliff?

The 400% cliff is the income where the credit stops all at once. At exactly 400% of the poverty line you still get a credit. One dollar more, and you get none (26 U.S.C. 36B(c)(1)). Whatever credit you still have at the line, you lose all of it at once.

Here is how it works for one adult earning $39,900 a year, with no job offer of coverage, buying a plan for 2027 where the benchmark plan costs $600 a month. That price is made up, only to show the arithmetic. Real prices depend on where you live and how old you are. This income is 250% of the poverty line for one person, so the table puts the expected share at 8.66% of income, about $288 a month. The credit pays the rest of the price: $312 a month.

Now take one adult earning $63,840 a year, with the same example price. That is exactly 400% of the poverty line for one person. The expected share is 10.22%, about $544 a month, and the credit is $56.30 a month.

Last, take one adult earning $63,841 a year, one dollar more. That is over the line, so there is no credit at all, and this person pays the full $600 a month. After federal taxes and the health plan, the person at the line has $3,913 a month left, and the person one dollar over has $3,856.

The cliff costs more when the benchmark price is higher. Prices rise with age: insurers may charge an older adult up to three times what they charge a 21-year-old (45 CFR 147.102). A family’s price also covers more people. At the line, a household is expected to pay 10.22% of its income. Everything the benchmark plan costs above that is credit, and all of it goes at once, for every month of the year.

The credit is worked out on your household income for the whole year. So a raise, a bonus, overtime or a second job at any point in the year all count toward the line. The calculator’s “What if you earn more?” box shows what a raise would leave you after taxes and any lost help. Once you type the benchmark price, the calculator finds this cliff for your household, and its “Your next cliff” box shows it when it is the next one above your pay.

Above the line you can still buy a marketplace plan at full price. Under HHS’s rules for 2027, a person aged 30 or older whose expected household income is below 100% or above 250% of the poverty line can ask for a hardship exemption to buy a catastrophic plan, if they otherwise qualify (91 FR 29526). Catastrophic plans get no tax credit.

How do I see my own credit in dollars?

Type the benchmark plan’s monthly price into the calculator’s “Benchmark health plan price” box. HealthCare.gov’s tax tool shows that price for your ZIP code. Use the price for everyone in your tax household who needs marketplace coverage.

Without the price, the calculator still works out the two things the rules make certain. It shows what you are expected to pay each month for the benchmark plan, as a share of your income and in dollars. And it shows the household income where the credit stops for your household size. With the price, it also shows:

• your tax credit in dollars a month;
• what the benchmark plan would cost you after the credit;
• that premium in the month’s budget, next to your pay, taxes and other help;
• your next cliff: the pay where the credit ends for you, and how much less you would have just above it.

We ask you for the price because benchmark prices are set plan by plan and place by place, change with each person’s age, and change every year. The federal files that list them could not be read when we built the site, and we do not guess a price. Like everything you type, the price stays in your browser.

What if my income is below the poverty line?

Below 100% of the poverty line there is no tax credit (26 U.S.C. 36B(c)(1)). Medicaid is meant to cover people there. But in a state that has not expanded Medicaid, an adult below the poverty line who does not qualify for Medicaid gets neither Medicaid nor the credit. This is often called the coverage gap. Where your state’s Medicaid rules are in the calculator, it tells you when you fall in it.

Four more rules matter near the bottom:

• If the marketplace expected your income to be between 100% and 400% of the poverty line when you signed up, and the credit was paid in advance, you can keep the credit even if your income for the year ends up below 100%. This does not apply if you knowingly or recklessly gave wrong information (26 CFR 1.36B-2).
• If the marketplace found that you could not get Medicaid when you signed up, you are treated as not able to get Medicaid for the rest of that plan year, unless you recklessly gave wrong information. So the credit is not taken back for that reason.
• Until 2025, lawfully present immigrants below the poverty line who could not get Medicaid because of their immigration status could get the credit. From 2026 that exception is gone (Public Law 119-21, section 71302).
• Someone turned down for Medicaid only because they did not meet Medicaid’s new work requirement is treated as able to get Medicaid, so they cannot get the credit either, as the IRS’s proposed rule of October 15, 2026 explains. States must start the work requirement by January 1, 2027, though HHS may give a state until December 31, 2028.

Does a job offer of health insurance rule out the credit?

Yes, if the offer counts as affordable and gives minimum value. For 2027, a job’s offer is affordable if the worker’s share of the premium for covering just the worker is no more than 10.22% of household income (Rev. Proc. 2026-26). For 2026 the figure is 9.96%. Minimum value means the plan pays at least 60% of covered costs. For the worker’s family, the test uses what the worker would pay to cover the family, not just the worker.

If the offer is not affordable, or does not give minimum value, the worker and family can still get the credit for a marketplace plan if they meet the other rules. Anyone who is offered job coverage that is affordable and gives minimum value cannot get the credit, even if they turn the offer down. The calculator asks “Does a job offer anyone here health insurance?” If you answer “Yes, and it costs under about 10% of income”, it rules the credit out.

Will I have to pay the credit back?

You may, and from 2026 there is no limit on how much. When the credit is paid in advance, the marketplace works it out from the income you expect for the year, and it lowers your premium each month. When you file your tax return, Form 8962 compares those advance payments with the credit your real income for the year allows. If the advance payments were too high, all of the extra is added to your tax. The IRS puts it plainly: “There is no repayment cap for tax years after 2025” (IRS questions and answers; Public Law 119-21, section 71305).

If your household income for the year ends up over 400% of the poverty line, you were due no credit at all, so every advance payment comes back. Say one adult earning $39,900 a year had $312 a month paid in advance all year, and a second job took the year’s income over the line. All twelve months of advance payments would be added to the tax bill. The same is true if income goes over the line late in the year, because the whole year’s income counts.

So the income you give the marketplace matters. You must also file a tax return with Form 8962 for every year the credit was paid in advance, even if you would not otherwise have to file. If you do not, you can lose advance payments in later years.

For 2026 coverage, which you settle on the tax return you file in 2027, the shares come from the 2026 table:

The tax credit is the benchmark plan's premium minus this share of income. Below 100% of the poverty line there is no credit (Medicaid is meant to cover people there). A job offer of coverage that costs the worker no more than 9.96% of household income rules the credit out.

Sources: Rev. Proc. 2025-25 (2026 applicable percentage table and required contribution percentage) (IRS); 26 U.S.C. 36B, United States Code 2024 edition (before Public Law 119-21) (GPO (govinfo)); 26 CFR 1.36B-3 (computing the premium assistance amount; applicable percentage) (eCFR); IRS FS-2025-10 (23 Dec 2025; individual answers updated 19 Feb 2026): Questions and answers on the Premium Tax Credit (IRS). Checked October 31, 2026.

Who else cannot get the credit?

Even with household income between 100% and 400% of the poverty line, you cannot get the credit if:

• you can get Medicaid, CHIP, Medicare, TRICARE or other government coverage for that month;
• a job offers you coverage that is affordable and gives minimum value;
• you are married and file a separate tax return, unless you are a victim of domestic abuse or spousal abandonment (for up to three years);
• someone else can claim you as a dependent;
• your plan is a catastrophic plan, or was not bought through the marketplace;
• you do not pay your own part of the premium;
• from 2026, you bought the plan through a special enrollment period based only on your income (see below);
• from 2027, your immigration status is not one of those that still qualify (see below).

What changes for immigrants in 2027?

From coverage that starts on January 1, 2027, the credit is only for U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals and three groups of immigrants: lawful permanent residents (green card holders), Cuban and Haitian entrants, and people who live in the United States under a Compact of Free Association. Other lawfully present immigrants lose the credit. The change is section 71301 of Public Law 119-21, and marketplaces check it for plan years that start on or after January 1, 2027. In a family where some members qualify and some do not, the credit is worked out only for the members who qualify.

DACA recipients have not counted as lawfully present for the marketplace since August 25, 2025, under HHS’s Marketplace Integrity and Affordability rule. So they cannot buy a marketplace plan or get the credit. The calculator assumes that everyone it works out has a status that qualifies.

When and where do I sign up?

For 2027 coverage, open enrollment on HealthCare.gov runs from November 1 to December 15, 2026. States that run their own marketplace must start by November 1, end by December 31 and stay open no more than nine weeks. Plans chosen in open enrollment start on January 1. These dates are set by HHS’s 2025 Marketplace Integrity and Affordability rule.

You sign up on HealthCare.gov or, if your state runs its own marketplace, on your state’s marketplace site. Signing up is free. Only the marketplace can say what you qualify for, and the IRS settles the final credit when you file your taxes.

Outside open enrollment you need a special enrollment period. From 2026, a plan bought through a special enrollment period based only on income, such as the monthly one that was open to people with income up to 150% of the poverty line, gets no tax credit (Public Law 119-21, section 71304). A special enrollment period tied to a qualifying life event is not affected by this rule.

Where does the tax credit fit with Medicaid and CHIP?

Health help comes in steps as income rises: Medicaid and CHIP at the lowest incomes, then a marketplace plan with the tax credit, then full price above 400% of the poverty line or with an affordable job offer. Anyone who can get Medicaid or CHIP for a month cannot get the credit for that month.

1. MedicaidFree or nearly free; children and pregnant women qualify at higher incomes than other adults
2. CHIPFor children just above Medicaid's limit; low premiums in some states
3. Marketplace with a tax creditFrom the poverty line up: you pay a share of income for a benchmark plan
4. Full priceAbove the tax credit's limit, or with an affordable job offer

The steps are not in the same places in every state, because each state sets its own Medicaid and CHIP limits. Where your state’s rules are in our files, the calculator puts each person in your household on the step the rules point to, then works out the tax credit for the people left to buy a plan.

What does the calculator leave out?

• The benchmark price, until you type it.
• Help from your state. The calculator works out the federal tax credit only.
• Your final income. The credit is settled on the whole year’s household income when you file, so a change later in the year changes the answer.
• Immigration status, unless you give it. Left blank, each person is worked out as a U.S. citizen, and the answer says so; given, the credit follows the rules below for each person.

Each answer is an estimate from the published rules. Only the marketplace decides what you can get, and the IRS settles the credit with your tax return. Nothing here is tax advice.

Figures checked October 31, 2026.

Questions people ask

What is the income limit for Obamacare subsidies in 2027?

For 2027 coverage, household income must be at least 100% and no more than 400% of the 2026 poverty guidelines for your household size. In the 48 states and DC, one adult earning $63,840 a year is at the line and still gets a credit, and one adult earning $63,841 a year gets none.

Did the enhanced ACA subsidies get extended for 2026 or 2027?

No. They ended on December 31, 2025. The House passed a bill to extend them, H.R. 1834, in January 2026. Congress’s own record shows it on the Senate’s calendar since February 2026, with no later action and no law.

How much will I pay for a benchmark plan in 2027?

A share of your household income from the IRS table on this page. The share rises with income. At 250% of the poverty line it is 8.66%, and from 300% up to 400% it is 10.22%.

What happens if I earn more than I told the marketplace?

Your tax return settles it. If the credit paid in advance was more than your real income allows, you pay back all of the extra, with no limit, from tax year 2026. If your income for the year ends up over 400% of the poverty line, you pay back every advance payment.

Can I get the tax credit if my job offers health insurance?

Only if the offer is not affordable or does not give minimum value. For 2027 it is affordable if the worker’s share for covering just the worker is no more than 10.22% of household income.

Can DACA recipients get a marketplace plan?

No. Since August 25, 2025, DACA recipients are not treated as lawfully present for the marketplace, so they cannot buy a plan there or get the credit.

Can I sign up for a plan on this site?

No. This is an independent calculator, not a government website, and it takes no applications. To sign up, go to HealthCare.gov or your state’s own marketplace.

Updated November 1, 2026