If you are 1/11 who can afford health insurance under the mandate that take place in 2014, and you don't buy it, then you pay a penalty because you wouldn't go into the pool as a presumably healthy person because people with illnesses know they need insurance.

if you don't pay income tax, you could be tried and found guilty of USC infractions, tried in federal court and put in the slam.  They don't provide hobby pussy for you in there, but I'm  sure someone with your  considerable charms could find an attractive boyfriend.

You didn't say it, but if you're fishing for a comparison or a way to distinguish the two, that's easy.  Less than 10% of the US population are subject to the mandate; the rest are exempt by some means I've explained about 15 times on this board in the last 3 days.

The only adults exempt from income tax are individuals with income under the threshold the USC sets out.  The only entities are entities that have 501(3) (c) exclusion.

We don't have a situation in the tax code where you are required to purchase something that is of obvious benefit to you, because all adults will have illnesses that need treating eventually.  Everyone has to pay income taxes, unless you are below income even if you feel how Congress spends your money is not the way you want it spent.

You could leave the country and never come back and go somewhere where healthcare is totally shitty, and there is no universal plan, but it wouldn't be an industrialized nation.

In which century of your life do you plan to read the thread where I explained what ACA does, and the dismal prospects for Romney to be elected or repeal by reconciliation to take place? It's right below this post.

You are required to pay federal income tax only if you have "taxable income." If you have taxable income and you fail to pay taxes on it, you are subject to various criminal and civil sanctions depending on the circumstances of your failure to pay.

      But if you fail to pay the ACA “tax,” you need fear none of the traditional consequences.
The ACA prohibits the IRS from seeking to put you in jail or seizing your property for simple refusal to pay the tax. The law says specifically that taxpayers “shall not be subject to any criminal prosecution or penalty” for failure to pay, and also that the IRS cannot file a tax lien (a legal claim against such things as homes, cars, wages and bank accounts) or a “levy” (seizure of property or bank accounts).