The IRS released final regulations Tuesday on the Sec. 5000A shared-responsibility payment (better known as the Individual Mandate)—the penalty imposed on individual taxpayers who do not obtain minimum essential health care coverage beginning in 2014.
Under Sec. 5000A, starting next year, a taxpayer will be liable for the shared-responsibility payment if the taxpayer or any nonexempt individual whom the taxpayer may claim as a dependent for a tax year does not have minimum essential coverage in a month included in that tax year. Married taxpayers filing a joint return are jointly liable for the payment.
The IRS has produced a fact sheet at
http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl2152.aspx. Let us know if you have any questions.