Updated October 17, 2026. Quick answer: Code 1A on line 14 of Form 1095-C is the code for what the form calls a Qualifying Offer: coverage providing minimum value offered to you, with a cost at or under a set share of the federal poverty line, plus coverage offered to your spouse and dependents. The form says the information on line 14 “relates to eligibility for coverage subsidized by the premium tax credit”, so check each month’s box.
What code 1A says
Line 14 is where your employer reports the offer of coverage it made to you. The recipient instructions open with “The codes listed below for line 14 describe the coverage that your employer offered to you and your spouse and dependent(s), if any.” Code 1A is the first code on the list. The recipient wording is: “Minimum essential coverage providing minimum value offered to you with an employee required contribution for self-only coverage equal to or less than 9.5% (as adjusted) of the 48 contiguous states single federal poverty line and minimum essential coverage offered to your spouse and dependent(s) (referred to here as a Qualifying Offer).”
The filer instructions give the same code in their own words: “Minimum essential coverage providing minimum value offered to full-time employee with Employee Required Contribution equal to or less than 9.5% (as adjusted) of mainland single federal poverty line and at least minimum essential coverage offered to spouse and dependent(s).” Put together, code 1A packs four things into one letter-number pair: coverage that is minimum essential coverage, that provides minimum value, that has a capped employee cost, and that reaches the spouse and dependents too.
Minimum value and minimum essential coverage
The instructions define minimum value this way: “A plan provides minimum value if the plan pays at least 60% of the costs of benefits for a standard population and provides substantial coverage of in-patient hospitalization services and physician services.” Minimum essential coverage is defined in the Definitions section, which refers to the coverage described in the instructions. The recipient pages of the form say that “If you or your family members are eligible for certain types of minimum essential coverage, you may not be eligible for the premium tax credit.”
Code 1A is a statement by the employer about what it offered. It is not a statement about what you bought or whether you enrolled. Whether you enrolled is a separate item, covered under line 16 code 2C.
What the Qualifying Offer definition adds
The Definitions section has its own entry: “A Qualifying Offer is an offer of MEC providing minimum value to one or more full-time employees for all calendar months during the calendar year for which the employee was a full-time employee for whom a section 4980H assessable payment could apply”, and it adds the cost cap and the family reach in the words that follow, “with an Employee Required Contribution for each month, not exceeding 9.5 % (as adjusted) of the mainland single federal poverty line divided by 12, provided that the offer includes an offer of MEC to the employee’s spouse and dependents (if any).”
The percentage in the code is not fixed from year to year. The instructions explain: “References to 9.5% in the section 4980H affordability safe harbors and Qualifying Offer Method are applied based on the percentage as indexed for purposes of applying the affordability thresholds under section 36B (the premium tax credit).” They then give the indexed figure: “The percentage, as adjusted, is 8.39% for plan years beginning in 2024, and 9.02% for plan years beginning in 2025.” The page ACA affordability percentage for 2026 covers that threshold on this site, and the 2027 version covers the next one.
What it means to be offered coverage for a month
Because line 14 is filled in month by month, the instructions pin down when an offer counts: “An ALE Member offers health coverage for a month only if it offers health coverage that would provide coverage for every day of that calendar month.” ALE Member is the term the instructions use for the employer. The instructions explain what happens in that case on the other end of the code list, on the codes 1F, 1G and 1H page.
The instructions also say what counts as an offer to dependents: “an offer of coverage is treated as made to an employee’s dependents only if the offer of coverage is made to an unlimited number of dependents regardless of the actual number of dependents, if any, an employee has during any particular calendar month.” The same text separates spouses from dependents: “a spouse is not a dependent for purposes of section 4980H.” That is why the code descriptions always name the spouse and the dependents separately.
How your line 14 boxes read with code 1A
Line 14 sits in Part II of the form, which carries the heading “Employee Offer of Coverage”. On the form you will see one box marked “All 12 Months” and then twelve monthly boxes. The filer instructions explain how those boxes are meant to be filled: “For each calendar month, enter the applicable code from Code Series 1.” They add that “you may enter the applicable code in the “All 12 Months” box and not complete the individual calendar month boxes”, and also that “you may enter the code in each of the boxes for the 12 calendar months.” So a code in the All 12 Months box and the same code in all twelve monthly boxes are two ways of saying the same thing.
Here is the reading that follows from those sentences. If code 1A is in the All 12 Months box, the employer is saying it applies in every month. If the monthly boxes carry 1A for some months and something else for others, then 1A applies for the months where it appears. The instructions allow exactly that: “This code may be used to report for specific months for which a Qualifying Offer was made, even if you did not receive a Qualifying Offer for all 12 months of the calendar year.”
The filer text includes a tip that matters to the employer’s furnishing method for that same situation: “However, an ALE Member may not use the Alternative Furnishing Method for an employee who did not receive a Qualifying Offer for all 12 calendar months.” Read your own form by that rule. A mix of 1A in some months and another code in others is allowed on the form. A code is required in each month either way: “A code must be entered for each calendar month, January through December, even if the employee was not a full-time employee for 1 or more of the calendar months.”
Code 1A and line 15
Next to line 14 is line 15, the employee required contribution. The instructions list the codes that go with a line 15 amount: “Line 15 will show an amount only if code 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1J, 1K, 1L, 1M, 1N, 1O, 1P, 1Q, 1T, or 1U is entered on line 14.” Code 1A is not in that list. Read literally, that means a line 15 amount is not required for months coded 1A. The Qualifying Offer already carries its cost cap inside its own description, so the form does not need a separate amount to tell you the offer was within the cap. The line 15 rules are on the line 15 page.
How this relates to your return
The recipient instructions tie the form to the credit this way: “If you purchased health insurance coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace and wish to claim the premium tax credit, this information will assist you in determining whether you are eligible.” The form does not decide that for you. It is one input, and the Marketplace statement, Form 1095-A, is another. For how subsidies relate to income, the ACA subsidy calculator and the ACA subsidy cliff pages are on this site. The overview of every 1095 form is at Form 1095 explained.
Edition and tax year
The 2025 forms and instructions were the ones read for this page. They were the current files on irs.gov on 2026-10-17, and they cover coverage in calendar year 2025, furnished in early 2026. The year is printed on the form you received, so check it before you rely on any line of this page.
Common mistakes
- Reading 1A as a promise of coverage in every month. The form says the code “may be used to report for specific months for which a Qualifying Offer was made”, so look at each monthly box.
- Looking for a line 15 amount on a month coded 1A. The form says “Line 15 will show an amount only if code 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1J, 1K, 1L, 1M, 1N, 1O, 1P, 1Q, 1T, or 1U is entered on line 14.”
- Treating the offer as meaning the same thing for spouse and dependents. The instructions say “a spouse is not a dependent for purposes of section 4980H.”, and the code description names both separately.
Related: ACA affordability percentage 2026, ACA affordability percentage 2027, ACA subsidy calculator, and ACA subsidy cliff 2026.
Sources
- Form 1095-C (2025), Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1095c.pdf
- 2025 Instructions for Forms 1094-C and 1095-C: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i109495c.pdf
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.