The Annual Penalty
Beginning with the filing of 2014 taxes, most people without medical coverage will need to pay a penalty to the Federal government. The penalty, which is really a tax, would be paid when you file your 2014 taxes in early 2015. And it’ll increase every year.
As shown in the chart below, there are two ways to calculate it, and you’ll pay the higher of these two amounts. There is an additional cap on this tax; it cannot be more than the National average premium for Bronze coverage. The cap for 2014 is $2448 per person (we know this will be at least double in 2015).

The penalties above represent the annual tax. If you go without coverage during part of the year, you will only need to pay a portion of the penalty.