Pub 974 Worksheet F: Allocating With Married Taxpayers

Updated November 5, 2026. Quick answer: Worksheet F in Publication 974 (2025) is for the third taxpayer on a marketplace health plan that covered spouses who are not filing a joint return, for example an uncle who claims their children. Part I turns the two agreed percentages into one allocation percentage for premiums and APTC; Part II adds the share of each spouse’s applicable SLCSP premium you must report.

When Worksheet F applies

The publication says “Use this allocation method if you are including in your tax family an individual who was enrolled in a qualified health plan with tax family members of taxpayers who must also allocate policy amounts because the taxpayers are legally married but not filing a joint return in 2025.” The spouses use Worksheet E, and two numbers from their sheets feed this one: their Step 2 agreements with you and their line 5 SLCSP premiums.

Step 1 and Step 2

Step 1 is “Determine an allocation percentage with one of the spouses.” “You may agree on any allocation percentage from -0- to 100.” “You may use the percentage you agreed on for every month in which this allocation rule applies, or you may agree on different percentages for different months.” Step 2 is the same with “the second spouse”, and that percentage goes “on line 3 of Worksheet F”.

With no agreement, “the allocation percentage is equal to the number of individuals you will include in your tax family for the tax year who were enrolled in the qualified health plan for which you are allocating policy amounts, divided by the total number of individuals enrolled in the plan.” It “is the percentage that applies to the amounts you must use to compute the PTC and reconcile it with APTC.” “The spouses must compute the PTC and reconcile APTC using the remaining amounts.”

Part I: lines 1 to 5

Line	What it asks
1	“Enter as a decimal the percentage from Step 1 above”
2	“Divide line 1 by 2.0. Enter the result as a decimal”
3	“Enter as a decimal the percentage from Step 2 above”
4	“Divide line 3 by 2.0. Enter the result as a decimal”
5	“Add lines 2 and 4. Enter the result as a decimal. This is your allocation percentage for enrollment premiums and APTC paid”

Each spouse holds half of the policy amounts (the 50% split built into Worksheet E), so each agreed percentage is halved: 0.67 of one spouse’s half is 0.335 (computed, before the publication rounds it).

Part II: lines 6 to 12

Line	What it asks
6	“Enter the amount of the applicable SLCSP premium from line 5 of Worksheet E completed by the spouse in Step 1 above”
7	“Enter the decimal from line 1 of this worksheet”
8	“Multiply line 6 by line 7”
9	“Enter the amount of the applicable SLCSP premium from line 5 of Worksheet E completed by the spouse in Step 2 above”
10	“Enter the decimal from line 3 of this worksheet”
11	“Multiply line 9 by line 10”
12	“Add lines 8 and 11. This is the applicable SLCSP premium allocated to you that you must include in lines 12 through 23, column (b), for the months in which this allocation applies”

Step 4: what goes in Form 8962, Part IV

“If you use the same percentage for every month during which this allocation method applies, use only one of lines 30 through 33 in Part IV to report the allocation.” “If you use different percentages for different months, use a separate line in Part IV for each allocation percentage.”

Column	What goes in it
(a)	“Enter the Marketplace-assigned policy number from Form 1095-A, line 2.”
(b)	“Enter the SSN of the spouse whose percentage you entered on Worksheet F, line 1.”
(c), (d)	The first and last month you are allocating, for example 01 and 06 for January through June.
(e)	“Enter the decimal from Worksheet F, line 5.”
(f)	“Leave column (f) blank.”
(g)	“Enter the decimal from Worksheet F, line 5.”

The IRS example: Andy

The publication continues the Pat and Jamie example: “For each month of coverage, the enrollment premiums were $1,000, the premium for the applicable SLCSP for a coverage family of five was $800, and the APTC was $200.” Pat’s coverage family of three has an applicable SLCSP premium of $450 and Jamie’s family of two has $400. Pat and Andy agree on 67% to Andy and Jamie and Andy agree on 50%. Andy, who files as head of household with the three children, completes Part I:

Line	Entry	Value
1	Percentage Pat and Andy agreed in Step 1	0.67
2	Line 1 divided by 2.0, as printed (computed)	0.34
3	Percentage Jamie and Andy agreed in Step 2	0.50
4	Line 3 divided by 2.0 (computed)	0.25
5	Line 2 plus line 4 (computed)	0.59

The publication rounds line 2, 0.335, up to 0.34 and prints 0.59 on line 5. Part II:

Line	Entry	Value
6	Applicable SLCSP premium from line 5 of Pat’s Worksheet E	$450
7	Line 1 of this worksheet	0.67
8	Line 6 times line 7, rounded to the dollar (computed)	$302
9	Applicable SLCSP premium from line 5 of Jamie’s Worksheet E	$400
10	Line 3 of this worksheet	0.50
11	Line 9 times line 10 (computed)	$200
12	Line 8 plus line 11 (computed)	$502

Andy enters 0.59 in columns (e) and (g) of Part IV, line 30, with Pat’s SSN in column (b) and 01 and 12 for the months. His monthly amounts on Form 8962 are $590 of enrollment premium, $502 of applicable SLCSP premium (from line 12, not the percentage) and $118 of APTC (computed).

Pat’s 0.17, Jamie’s 0.25 and Andy’s 0.59 total 1.01, one hundredth over, because the publication rounds 0.165 and 0.335 up (computed). The unrounded shares are 0.165, 0.25 and 0.585, which add to exactly 1.00.

Example with invented numbers

Illustration, not an IRS example. The percentages and premiums are made up and every result is computed.

Line	Entry	Value
1	Percentage agreed with the first spouse (invented)	0.40
2	Line 1 divided by 2.0 (computed)	0.20
3	Percentage agreed with the second spouse (invented)	0.30
4	Line 3 divided by 2.0 (computed)	0.15
5	Line 2 plus line 4 (computed)	0.35

Line	Entry	Value
6	SLCSP premium from the first spouse’s Worksheet E, line 5 (invented)	$500
7	Line 1 of this worksheet	0.40
8	Line 6 times line 7 (computed)	$200
9	SLCSP premium from the second spouse’s Worksheet E, line 5 (invented)	$700
10	Line 3 of this worksheet	0.30
11	Line 9 times line 10 (computed)	$210
12	Line 8 plus line 11 (computed)	$410

The allocation percentage is 0.35 and the SLCSP premium to carry to column (b) is $410 a month (computed).

Edition

This page reads Publication 974 (2025), Premium Tax Credit (PTC), the file irs.gov served on 2026-11-05. Worksheet letters and line numbers belong to that edition, so check the label printed on the worksheet in your own copy before you follow a line reference.

Common mistakes

Using line 5 as the SLCSP allocation. Line 5 allocates enrollment premiums and APTC; the SLCSP premium comes from line 12.
Pulling the SLCSP premiums from the Form 1095-A. Lines 6 and 9 take line 5 of each spouse’s Worksheet E.
Entering a figure in column (f). The publication says to leave column (f) blank for this worksheet.
Halving the wrong line. Line 2 halves the line 1 percentage and line 4 halves the line 3 percentage.

Find the right next step for your situation

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Sources

Publication 974 (2025), Premium Tax Credit (PTC): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p974.pdf
IRS, About Publication 974, Premium Tax Credit (PTC): https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-974

Read from the IRS documents linked above on November 5, 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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