You drive for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart or Amazon Flex, you buy your own health insurance, and you're partway through the HealthCare.gov application for 2027. It asks for your expected income next year, and you're about to type the total the apps paid you. Don't. Enter your projected net self-employment income: what the apps pay you, minus your business expenses, the mileage deduction most of all. HealthCare.gov's own guidance says to report net income, the same profit that goes on Schedule C. For a full-time driver, gross and net can be $15,000 or more apart.
That gap matters more for 2027 than it did for the last few years. The enhanced tax credits expired after 2025, so the old cliff is back: households over 400% of the poverty line get no premium tax credit at all. For 2027 coverage that line is $63,840 for one person. If you're single and the apps paid you $70,000 but you profited $49,000, entering gross can show you no help at all when you'd actually qualify for some.
The dates for 2027 coverage
- November 1, 2026: Open Enrollment opened on HealthCare.gov.
- December 15, 2026: last day to pick a plan for coverage starting January 1, 2027.
- January 15, 2027: Open Enrollment ends. Plans picked December 16 to January 15 start February 1.
States that run their own exchange (California, New York, New Jersey and others) can set different dates. Check your state's site if HealthCare.gov sends you there.
Work out your 2027 number in four steps
- Start from 2026 so far. Add up your gig payouts from January through October, including tips. Your platform earnings statements have the totals.
- Subtract your business expenses. Take business miles times the IRS rate (72.5¢ through June 30, 2026 and 76¢ from July 1), plus business tolls and parking, the business share of your phone, and supplies like hot bags and mounts. What's left is your profit so far. If you don't have a mileage log, this is the step that falls apart; see how to rebuild a log from records.
- Scale it to a year, then adjust. Divide by 10 and multiply by 12. Then change it for what you already know: fewer hours after a new W-2 job starts, a second app, a slow January. The IRS usually announces the next year's mileage rate in December; until then 76¢ is a fair stand-in.
- Take off half of your self-employment tax. The Marketplace counts your income the way your tax return will, and that return deducts half of the 15.3% self-employment tax. A rough figure is profit × 0.9235 × 0.0765. Then add any other household income, such as a spouse's wages, your own W-2 pay, or unemployment.
Tip: HealthCare.gov's application asks about your income in plain-English questions. You don't have to work out MAGI yourself, but for most drivers it's simply adjusted gross income, which is why net profit is the number that belongs there.
Two drivers: gross vs net
Both are single, live in the 48 contiguous states, and use 76¢ a mile as the estimate for 2027.
| Part-time driver | Full-time driver | |
|---|---|---|
| Projected app payouts | $42,000 | $70,000 |
| Business miles × 76¢ | −$13,680 (18,000 mi) | −$19,760 (26,000 mi) |
| Tolls, parking, phone, supplies | −$800 | −$1,200 |
| Schedule C profit | $27,520 | $49,040 |
| Half of SE tax | −$1,944 | −$3,465 |
| Income to enter | about $25,576 | about $45,575 |
| As % of the poverty line ($15,960) | 160% (gross would read 263%) | 286% (gross would read 439%) |
The part-time driver qualifies either way, but entering gross puts them in a band where they're expected to pay a much bigger share of income toward the benchmark plan, so the monthly credit shown would be far smaller than the one they're entitled to. The full-time driver is the dangerous case: gross is over the $63,840 cliff, so HealthCare.gov would show no tax credit at all. HealthCare.gov works out the actual dollar credit from your state's plan prices; this post doesn't try to.
Why guessing low is risky now
The credit you take each month is an advance. When you file your 2027 return in 2028, Form 8962 compares it with the credit your real income earned. Through 2025 there was a cap on what most people had to pay back. That cap is gone for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025, so if your income comes in higher than you said, you repay the whole difference. If it comes in lower, you get the extra back as a refund.
So the goal isn't the lowest number; it's the most honest net number. If your driving changes mid-year, HealthCare.gov says to update your application as soon as possible. That's cheap insurance against a surprise in April 2028.
If HealthCare.gov asks you to prove it
Self-employed applicants are sometimes asked to verify income. HealthCare.gov accepts a self-employment ledger: there's no set format, but it has to be an accurate, detailed record of your income and expenses. Your platform earnings statements cover the income side. A mileage log with dates, distances and purpose covers the largest expense, and it's the same record the IRS expects behind the mileage line on Schedule C (what that log has to include).
Who this isn't for
- Drivers with an affordable job-based plan offered to them. An offer of affordable employer coverage, yours or (usually) a family member's, generally rules out the Marketplace tax credit.
- Very low projected income. In states that expanded Medicaid, income under about 138% of the poverty line (around $22,025 for one person) can route you to Medicaid instead. In states that didn't, income under 100% doesn't qualify for the credit.
- Drivers outside the US. This is the US Marketplace only.
- Anyone with complicated household income. Several earners, a dependent who files, or big one-off income like selling stock: let a navigator or tax preparer check the number. Free local help is listed on HealthCare.gov.
Where TaxMiles fits, and where it doesn't
We make TaxMiles, so weigh this accordingly.
- It gives you step 2. TaxMiles logs business drives automatically and applies the IRS rate by trip date. If you add your gig income, or import an Uber, DoorDash or other earnings statement, the Estimated Taxes tool on the Taxes tab (Pro) shows year-to-date business income, the mileage deduction, tolls and parking, other deductions and net earnings. That “Net earnings” line is step 2 above, before the half-SE-tax step.
- What it can't do. It doesn't project next year's income, work out household income or MAGI, or estimate your Marketplace tax credit. Its exports are mileage and expense records; they don't list your income payouts, so a ledger for HealthCare.gov still needs your platform statements beside it.
- The free plan covers your first 40 business trips in total, not per month; Pro is $7.99 a month or $59.99 a year in the US. Each driver needs their own subscription; there's no family plan.
Premiums you pay yourself can also be a deduction at tax time; see self-employed tax deductions. And if net profit is new to you, how much to set aside from 1099 income uses the same math.
Frequently asked questions
Do I put my gross Uber or DoorDash earnings on HealthCare.gov?
No. HealthCare.gov asks self-employed people for net income, meaning earnings minus business expenses, the profit you report on Schedule C. For a driver the biggest expense is usually the mileage deduction, so net can be thousands of dollars lower than what the apps paid you.
Should I use this year's income or next year's?
Next year's. The application for 2027 coverage asks what you expect to earn in 2027. Your 2026 numbers are the best starting point, adjusted for anything you know will change, such as driving fewer hours or adding a second app.
What happens if my 2027 income ends up higher than I estimated?
You repay the difference when you file your 2027 return on Form 8962. Starting with tax years after 2025, there is no longer a cap on that repayment, so a big underestimate can mean a big bill. Update your application during the year as soon as your income changes.
Is there still a 400% income limit for Marketplace tax credits in 2027?
Yes. The enhanced credits that removed the limit expired after 2025 and had not been extended as of early November 2026. For 2027 coverage the limit is 400% of the 2026 poverty guideline: $63,840 for one person and $86,560 for two in the 48 contiguous states and DC.
What is the deadline to enroll for January 1, 2027?
December 15, 2026 on HealthCare.gov. Open Enrollment runs November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027; enrolling between December 16 and January 15 starts coverage February 1. States that run their own exchange can set different dates.
Get the mileage line right before you guess the rest
Your Marketplace estimate is only as good as your expense total. TaxMiles records each drive with date, distance and purpose, so the biggest number in step 2 is a record, not a guess.
Get TaxMilesSources: HealthCare.gov Estimating your income as a self-employed person (net income, Schedule C, self-employment ledger, update as soon as possible); HealthCare.gov dates and deadlines (November 1 to January 15; December 15 for January 1); CMS Plan Year 2027 Marketplace plans and prices fact sheet (October 30, 2026); HealthCare.gov how to estimate your expected income (MAGI usually equals AGI); HHS ASPE 2026 poverty guidelines ($15,960 one person, $21,640 two); IRS IR-2025-127 and Fact Sheet 2025-10 (repayment limits removed for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025); IRS Form 8962; IRS standard mileage rates; IRS self-employment tax (15.3% on 92.35% of net earnings, half deductible). Checked November 4, 2026.
This article is general information about the US Marketplace and federal income tax, not tax, legal or insurance advice. The examples are hypothetical, assume a single filer with no other income or deductions, and use 76¢ a mile because the 2027 rate isn't published yet. Your actual tax credit depends on your state, age, household and plan prices. TaxMiles is published by Gigabyte LLC, the company that wrote this article.