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Form 1095-A Column C: Advance Payment of Premium Tax Credit

Updated October 17, 2026. Quick answer: Column C of Form 1095-A is the monthly amount of advance credit payments made to your insurance company for your coverage. Any amount other than zero in Part III, column C means Form 8962 must be filed. The annual total goes to column (f) of Form 8962.

Form 8962 (premium tax credit) for 2025, read line by line: Form 8962 lines 11 to 23, Form 8962 line 26 and Form 8962 lines 30 to 34.

What column C shows

The recipient instructions state it plainly: “This column is the monthly amount of advance credit payments that were made to your insurance company on your behalf to pay for all or part of the premiums for your coverage.” The form’s own caption is “C. Monthly advance payment of premium tax credit”. The filer’s version is “Enter the amount of advance credit payments for the month.” Columns A and B are covered on the Form 1095-A column A and Form 1095-A column B pages, and the overview is Form 1095 explained.

When column C means you must file Form 8962

The second page of the form tells you what an amount here triggers: “You must complete Form 8962 and file it with your tax return” “if any amount other than zero is shown in Part III, column C, of this Form 1095-A”. The form goes on to say “The filing requirement applies whether or not you’re otherwise required to file a tax return.”

The Form 8962 instructions say the same from the form’s side: “If APTC was paid on your behalf, or if APTC was not paid on your behalf but you wish to take the PTC, you must file Form 8962 and attach it to your tax return”. Your return is Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR. If no advance payments were made, the column is empty: “No information will be entered in this column if no advance credit payments were made.”

When column C is the only column filled in

The recipient instructions describe an unusual month: “If this is the only column in Part III that is filled in with an amount other than zero for a month, it means your policy was terminated by your insurance company due to nonpayment of premiums, and you aren’t entitled to take the premium tax credit for that month when you file your tax return.” The sentence that follows is the one to act on: “You must still reconcile the entire advance payment that was paid on your behalf for that month using Form 8962.” Compare the pattern with the -0- months explained on the Form 1095-A column A page.

More than one Form 1095-A

A family with several policies receives several forms. The recipient instructions say “If you or your family members enrolled at the Marketplace in more than one qualified health plan policy, you will receive a Form 1095-A for each policy.” For column C the filer instruction is “If more than one Form 1095-A is filed for coverage of a tax filer’s family for the same months, enter only the advance credit payment amount allocated to the policy reported on this Form 1095-A.”

When you add the forms up, Form 8962 says “If you have more than one Form 1095-A affecting a particular month, add the amounts together for that month and enter the total on the appropriate line on Form 8962, column (f).” The mechanics of the annual line are on the Form 1095-A line 33 page.

Stand-alone dental plans

Advance payments can be attached to a dental policy. The filer instructions say “If the tax filer’s family is also enrolled in a stand-alone dental plan, any advance credit payments allocated to the stand-alone dental plan should be added to the advance credit payments allocated to one of the policies reported on a Form 1095-A.” The same instructions say a Form 1095-A is not filed for the dental policy itself: “Do not file a Form 1095-A for a catastrophic health plan or a separate dental policy”. For the VOID statement that follows when one is sent anyway, see the Form 1095-A VOID, CORRECTED or missing page.

Someone else enrolled a member of your tax family

The Form 8962 instructions cover a case where the form is in another person’s hands: “If someone else enrolled an individual in your tax family in coverage, and APTC was paid for that individual’s coverage, you must file Form 8962 to reconcile the APTC.” They add “You need to obtain a copy of the Form 1095-A from the person who enrolled the individual.”

How column C feeds Form 8962 column (f)

The yearly line takes the total: “Enter the APTC amount from Form 1095-A, line 33, column C.” followed by “If you have more than one Form 1095-A, add the amounts together and enter the total on Form 8962, line 11, column (f).” The line 24 heading reads “Advance payment of PTC. Enter the amount from line 11, column (f), or add lines 12 through 23, column (f)”. On the monthly lines the instruction is “Enter on lines 12 through 23, column (f), the amount of the monthly APTC reported on Form 1095-A, lines 21 through 32, column C.”

If you allocated policy amounts in Part IV, the column (f) entry changes: “include only the amounts of the monthly APTC allocated to you, if any, using the allocation percentage you entered on Form 8962, lines 30 through 33, column (g), and combine that amount with the amounts of the monthly APTC for other policies that you did not allocate.” If your credit estimate is in play, the ACA subsidy calculator page and the managing MAGI for ACA subsidies page are separate reading.

Edition and tax year

The 2025 Form 1095-A and the 2025 Instructions for Form 1095-A were the ones read for this page, along with the 2025 Form 8962 and its instructions. They were the current files on irs.gov on 2026-10-17. Check the tax year printed on the form you received.

Common mistakes

  • Ignoring a form because the premium looks small. The recipient instructions require Form 8962 “if any amount other than zero is shown in Part III, column C”.
  • Adding the same advance payment twice across several forms. The filer instructions say to “enter only the advance credit payment amount allocated to the policy reported on this Form 1095-A.”
  • Treating a month where only column C has an amount as a month with a credit. The form says “you aren’t entitled to take the premium tax credit for that month” yet the advance payment still has to be reconciled.

Related: ACA subsidy calculator, Managing MAGI for ACA subsidies, Form 1040, and Form 1040-SR.

Sources

Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 17, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.

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