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I contributed to an HSA for 2 years but learned I was ineligible. How do I avoid the worst penalties?
URGENT?: I think I need an answer before December 31, 2024, about 1 particular question which is:
Do I need to pull the money from the HSAs that I contributed to in 2023 before the end of 2024 so as not to incur a second 6% penalty on those "excess" contributions, or will that rash decision mean that I also incur a 20% penalty for a non-qualified withdrawal from two HSAs I wasn't eligible for in the first place? (I plan to use TurboTax Live Help to walk me through some of this, but they don't offer that service until January 8th, which I fear will be too late.)
Here's the backstory: I opened 2 HSAs; one for my spouse and one for myself in 2023. I maxed out contributions for 2023 and nearly maxed out in 2024 before realizing in November of 2024 that our health plan in both years was ineligible for an HSA, despite the insurance provider telling me in 2023 that it was eligible. I went through this article for initial guidance: https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-credits-deductions/discussion/re-i-contributed-to-an-hsa-for-y...
Unfortunately, I wasn't quite able to tease out what my steps should be.
We've been using my spouse's HSA account to pay for most of our and our kids' medical expenses, and have largely left mine alone, though not entirely. So I immediately filed a Return of Excess Contributions with my HSA provider for the entire sum of the 2024 contributions to my account, and left the rest in the account (My understanding is that it's too late to file such a form for my 2023 contributions, and what to do with that money is at the heart of my question). My spouse's account has less money in it than the total contribution for 2024, so I assume filing Return of Excess Contributions for her before tax time next year should zero that account out (though Fidelity mentioned something about adding a sheet to the form that redefines withdrawals for medical expenses as part of the excess contributions - I haven't found data on exactly how to do that yet). At this point, I believe we have to refile our 2023 taxes, claiming those 2023 contributions as part of our income for that year and pay a 6% penalty. For 2024, as long as I do the Return of Excess Contributions form correctly for my wife's account, we should be okay for that money. However, I will still have money leftover in my account and we will have a health plan for 2025 that is HSA eligible.
My questions are the following:
1 - Is a 20% penalty avoidable for withdrawing the money put into the HSA in 2023?
2 - Is it possible to redefine the money in my HSA (ostensibly the 2023 contributions) as 2025 contributions, thus avoiding the 20% penalty?
2a - If I do what I say in #2, I understand I may still incur a 6% penalty for the balance at the end of 2023, but will I incur a second 6% penalty for the balance at the end of 2024? And if so, can I simply withdraw the money without triggering a 20% penalty? Or is it better to leave the money alone and redefine it as a 2025 contribution once that plan activates on January 1, 2025, incurring the 6% penalty again for 2024, but at least not incurring a 20% penalty for a non-medical expense withdrawal?
Again, I plan to use TurboTax Live help experts for this, but I worry that if I don't act before December 31, 2024, I may incur penalties I could have avoided.
Thanks in advance for any guidance