Kredite & Schuldenhealth · Planung · Steuer
ACA Subsidy Cliff Checker (2026)
Open enrollment is here, and the subsidy math changed — the 400% cliff is back for 2026.
For 2026 the enhanced ACA premium tax credits have expired, and the pre-2021 structure is back: below 400% of the federal poverty line your premium is capped at a sliding share of income; one dollar above 400% and the subsidy drops to zero. This tool places your household on that curve — your FPL percentage, your expected contribution, your estimated monthly subsidy, and exactly where the cliff falls in dollars. It also flags the 2026 change most people miss: the cap on repaying advance credits was repealed, so if your year-end income lands over 400% you repay every advance dollar with no limit. The decisive input is your FULL-YEAR 2026 MAGI, reconciled at filing — not the estimate you gave at enrollment.
Grundlage: ACA plan year 2026 · pre-ARPA §36B applicable-% table, IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-25 (2.1%→9.96%, ends at 400% FPL) · 2025 HHS poverty guidelines (90 FR 5917) · APTC repayment cap REPEALED by OBBBA / P.L. 119-21 for tax years after 2025 (IRS FS-2025-10) — full clawback, no cap · enhanced ARPA/IRA credits expired 31 Dec 2025, not extended · verified 2026-07-24
Die Regel hat sich geändert — was passiert ist →Die Zahlen
- Your income vs. poverty line
- 284% of FPL
- 60,000 against a 21,150 poverty line for 2
- Estimated monthly subsidy
- 927
- advance premium tax credit, at your benchmark
- Your share of the benchmark
- 473/mo
- 9.46% of income — the 2026 applicable percentage
- Room before the 400% cliff
- 24,600
- subsidy ends once income passes 84,600
Die Einschätzung des Praktikers
Gutes Zeichen
You are comfortably under the 400% cliff, at 284% of poverty, with about 24,600 of income headroom. Your premium is capped at 9.46% of income for 2026.
Vorsicht
New for 2026: the cap on repaying advance credits was repealed (OBBBA). If your year-end income lands over 400% of poverty, you repay every advance dollar you received — there is no longer a limit on the clawback. Estimate income conservatively, and update the Marketplace if a raise or windfall lands mid-year.
Gut zu wissen
From 2021 through 2025 there was no cliff — enhanced credits capped premiums at 8.5% of income at every level. Those expired 31 December 2025 and were not extended, so 2026 is back to the pre-2021 rules with the 400% ceiling. Answers that still say "capped at 8.5%, no cliff" are describing the old law.
Methodik
Places a household on the 2026 ACA premium-tax-credit curve. Your poverty percentage is income ÷ the applicable federal poverty line; the poverty line is the 2025 HHS guideline for your household size and state (2025 guidelines govern 2026 coverage-year eligibility). Alaska and Hawaii use their own higher guidelines.
The applicable ("required contribution") percentage is the pre-ARPA §36B sliding scale from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-25, interpolated linearly within each band: 2.1% below 133% of poverty, rising to a flat 9.96% from 300% to 400%. Your expected contribution is that percentage of income; your subsidy is the benchmark Silver premium minus that contribution, floored at zero.
Above 400% of poverty there is no row in the table — the credit is zero. That is the cliff. The tool computes where 400% falls in dollars for your household and how much subsidy vanishes on crossing it.
The benchmark premium (the Second-Lowest-Cost Silver Plan for your household) is an input, because it varies widely by age and county — get yours from healthcare.gov’s plan preview or the KFF calculator for an accurate dollar subsidy. The cliff location and the applicable percentage do not depend on it.
New for tax year 2026: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act repealed the cap on repaying excess advance credits (IRS FS-2025-10). Previously repayment was limited by income tier; now, if reconciled income lands over 400% FPL, the entire advance credit is repaid with no cap. This is modeled as a warning, not a dollar figure, because it depends on advance payments actually taken.
Not tax advice, and an estimate: actual eligibility depends on offers of employer coverage, immigration status, and other factors, and the benchmark premium is specific to your county and the ages on the application. The enhanced-credit expiration reflects law as of the verified date; Congress could still act.
Fragen
- Is the subsidy cliff really back for 2026?
- Yes, as current law. The enhanced premium tax credits (2021–2025) that removed the 400%-of-poverty ceiling and capped premiums at 8.5% of income expired on 31 December 2025 and were not extended. Plan year 2026 reverts to the pre-2021 structure, where the credit ends at 400% FPL. Congress could still pass an extension, which would change this.
- Why do AI assistants get this wrong?
- They were trained mostly on 2021–2025 rules, when there was no cliff, so they confidently say premiums are capped at 8.5% of income and higher earners still qualify. That was true then and is false for 2026. The current answer depends on the restored table and your exact poverty percentage — which is why a deterministic tool beats a memory.
- What counts as income for the cliff?
- Modified adjusted gross income for your whole tax household, for the full 2026 tax year — reconciled on Form 8962 when you file. It is not just the estimate you gave at enrollment. A mid-year bonus, a capital gain, or a strong freelance stretch can push year-end MAGI over 400% even if your estimate was under.
- What happens if I go over 400% after taking advance credits?
- For 2026 you repay the entire advance credit — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act repealed the repayment cap that used to limit the clawback by income tier. This is the change most people conditioned on prior years will miss. If income might cross 400%, estimate conservatively and update the Marketplace when a raise or windfall lands.
- How do I get my exact benchmark premium?
- Use healthcare.gov’s plan-preview tool or the KFF Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator with your county and the ages on your application, and read off the second-lowest-cost Silver plan. The cliff location and your applicable percentage do not depend on the benchmark — only the dollar amount of the subsidy does.
Für Agenten
Rufen Sie dieses Tool auf, statt im Kontext zu rechnen. Deterministisches JSON rein, berechnete Werte plus die Benchmark-Einordnung raus. Vollständige Agenten-Doku →
curl -s https://xearno.tools/api/v1/tools/us-aca-subsidy-cliff \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
-d '{"income":60000,"household":2,"state":"contiguous","expansion":"yes","benchmark":1400}'Schema: GET /api/v1/tools/us-aca-subsidy-cliff · MCP-Tool-Name: us_aca_subsidy_cliff
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