The IRS instructions are incomplete. We are clearly intended to enter the carryover amount somewhere on lines 1 through 13, because the presence of the carryover affects line 13. However, the IRS instructions do not tell you where to put the amount.
For years, TurboTax attempted to deal with the incomplete instruction by invisibly adding the carryover to line 2. But this caused minor issues because sometimes taxpayers noticed that the printed numbers on lines 1 to 13 did not add up.
However, the IRS never made a comment until suddenly in early February 2024, the IRS e-file process rejected returns where the lines 1 -13 did not "foot" (an accounting term meaning in this case that the numbers don't add up). So TurboTax had to change the 8889 so that the carryover amount printed on line 2 (or at least was added to the number that would have gone there).
This made the IRS happy, and the e-filed returns were now accepted; however, other taxpayers like you have noticed that what TurboTax prints doesn't match the instructions. This is because it is not possible to match the contradictory or lacking instructions.
What is important to TurboTax (and should be to you) is that the line 13 value is correct, and that carryover of excess HSA contributions are correctly handled. TurboTax has always made sure that the results were correct, even if it was not possible to fully comply with the lacking IRS instructions.
It is OK if there is a value on line 2, an audit would quickly reveal the source of the value.
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