Whew! Tax Day has passed. But this year was more difficult than usual for many Americans–and for one in four Americans it was more a nightmare that tax days past- as this was the first year that all tax filers had to prove they carried healthcare insurance in 2014 or face a fine.

For too many Americans who were clueless until they began their tax filing process, ObamaCare added a $95 tax penalty or up to 1 percent of their adjusted household income. As the New York Post explains, a single person earning $40,000 a year will have to pay a $298.50 penalty. While not a mortgage or rent payment, that money could be plane tickets for a much-needed vacation, car repairs, or the start of an emergency fund.

For those who purchased ObamaCare last year, they may have jumped out of the tax frying pan and right into the fire. More than 80 percent of ObamaCare customers qualified for a subsidy, but as we’ve reported, because the subsidies were based on estimated income –not actual income- the government doled out an overwhelming number of incorrect subsidies. Only 4 percent of those who signed up for ObamaCare coverage got the correct subsidy.

Most saw their subsidies adjusted downward, meaning they just learned that they have to pay back that subsidy from their expected returns (if they were getting one) or be prepared to write Uncle Sam a check. Others may actually be getting more money back if their subsidies are too low. It turn out that if you had the good fortune to find a job or get a raise over the course of the year changing your income level, you are more than likely on the hook for the portion of the subsidy that you no longer qualified for.

And for those who didn’t use a government healthcare exchange, problems persist.

The pain is real as the Wall Street Journal reports:

The tax filing season has uncovered lingering wrinkles in the 2010 health-care law that have caused headaches for consumers who incorrectly estimated their income, didn’t use a government exchange to buy an insurance plan or changed coverage during the year.

Marta Chapman saw her anticipated $850 federal refund wiped out because she received too much in advance tax credits in 2014 to pay her insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act. That prompted her to drop her plan for this year.

“I canceled because I was very upset. To me it was kind of a trick,” said the 48-year-old personal-care aide in Aztec, N.M. “If I knew that, I wouldn’t have got the insurance.”

…

The law’s architects wanted the system to be fair, precise and well regulated. They tailored premium subsidies to the cost of insurance for people based on their age, local area and their household income for the year they have the insurance plan.

They also let consumers choose between getting tax credits directly as a discount on premiums, with the credit paid to the insurance company, or claiming the credit when they filed their returns. Now, the intricacies of that system are helping some and tripping up others.

Dave Kitenplon of St. Petersburg, Fla., had planned to claim as much as $14,000 of tax credits toward premiums he had already paid. But he found out he isn't eligible for the credits because he didn’t use HealthCare.gov to buy his health plan. Florida didn’t set up its own exchange.

Mr. Kitenplon, 63 years old, said his income as an accountant for family-owned real-estate partnerships was uncertain. So for 2014 he opted to pay the full monthly premium for himself and his wife for a plan sold both on and off HealthCare.gov and claim any credits he qualified for after.

If these stories aren’t bad enough, then there are those who cancelled their ObamaCare coverage during the year but are still on the hook for tax subsidies that they never used; this group includes a 45-year old New Yorker who is on the hook for $3,000 in tax credits because state exchange officials didn’t know she had dropped her plan.

Tax filers in this boat aren’t the only ones facing the challenge of rectifying their accounts. As we reported, the IRS sent out incorrect subsidy information to some 800,000 filers. Now, nearly all of them are being told they’ll have to wait until the fall (perhaps mid-October) to get it straightened it out. That means if they are due a refund that will likely on hold.

All of this comes at a time when the IRS isn’t doing a good job of managing its staff so that it can answer calls from desperate taxpayers.

ObamaCare isn’t a done deal, and maybe after this tax season more people will see what a rushed, jerrybuilt system has been foisted upon us.