Reply #24: I've seen that already. In fact, it is mentioned and quoted

[sabrina 1]

in the article I posted. The Senate Bill's language hasn't been completed yet as far as I know. Here is what the Factcheck article said, quoting part of what you posted:

In the Senate, the Finance Committee’s health care bill was amended to nullify the possibility of jail time for not paying the penalty tax. It stipulates that in the case of nonpayment, "such taxpayer shall not be subject to any criminal prosecution or penalty with respect to such failure."

That's good. In fact it should never have been an issue in the first place and we have to thank all those people who called and expressed their outrage that it ever was for helping to get this done. However, the IRS has its own laws and the question is, can the Senate, assuming it adapts this language, over-rule the IRS?

Instead, the Senate measure would allow the government to collect the tax by deducting it from any IRS tax-refund checks or other government payments. Should the full Senate approve that language, a House-Senate conference committee would have to wrestle with the question of whether or not a person who refuses to obtain coverage and refuses to pay the penalty can be charged with criminal tax evasion.

It should be brought up before the Senate votes on the bill. It's a good question. I don't know the answer. I do think that the Senate Committee intended to remove the possibility of jail, but do they have the authority? The IRS has a lot of authority to act on its own and if there's a conflict it would be better to fix it now. I would rather know for sure from someone who knows the law on this.