Does standard deduction affect the income engineering formula?

[frugalor]

Let's say I want about $50,000 as my official yearly income.  All of this income from stock dividends and capital gains.

The standard deduction is $25,900 for joint filers.

Do I need only $50,000 in stocks dividends and gains or do I need $50,000 + $25,900?

[ixtap]

What do you mean by official income? Are you looking at AGI? MAGI for a certain program?

[frugalor]

What do you mean by official income? Are you looking at AGI? MAGI for a certain program?

Yes. I need AGI for ACA insurance.

[oneday]

I've been looking into this recently and found a helpful link:

What income is counted
The Marketplace uses an income number called modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) to determine eligibility for savings. It’s not a line on your tax return.

See what’s included in MAGI and how to estimate it.

https://www.healthcare.gov/income-and-household-information/income/

I *think* that means you don't deduct the standard deduction, but do your own due diligence. Also might check with your state exchange if you have one.

[ixtap]

What do you mean by official income? Are you looking at AGI? MAGI for a certain program?

Yes. I need AGI for ACA insurance.

It is a actually an ACA specific MAGI, but it is  equal to AGI for most people. The AGI is before the standard deduction, so in your example, you need $50k total income from dividends, interest, capital gains distribution, plus whatever you sell.

[MDM]

I've been looking into this recently and found a helpful link:

https://www.healthcare.gov/income-and-household-information/income/

I *think* that means you don't deduct the standard deduction, but do your own due diligence. Also might check with your state exchange if you have one.

You think correctly.  As it says on that site, there are four things that, added together, make the MAGI for ACA purposes.

Your MAGI is the total of the following for each member of your household who’s required to file a tax return:

• Your adjusted gross income (AGI) on your federal tax return
• Excluded foreign income
• Nontaxable Social Security benefits (including tier 1 railroad retirement benefits)
• Tax-exempt interest

In case it isn't already obvious, only the gain on any capital asset sale counts toward AGI, not the total sale proceeds.

[oneday]

I've been looking into this recently and found a helpful link:

https://www.healthcare.gov/income-and-household-information/income/

I *think* that means you don't deduct the standard deduction, but do your own due diligence. Also might check with your state exchange if you have one.

You think correctly.

Forgive me...