sounds good, glad you were able to resolve it all, this helped me think thru my HSA also.
yes everything gets taken into account by Q4 which is the most conservative approach for deductions, but it's cumulative view so you could bring these forward into Q1-3 within limits if there was a reason (e.g. suppose you'd had a cap gain in Q1 to offset the 3k loss) - but if you've already eliminated the penalty with the deductions in Q4 then it doesn't matter.
and yes for VA you have to layer on the timing of additions/subtractions - US Gov Obligations (subtractions), and non-VA munis (additions), as well as the different quarterly timing (so Q2 in just May?!), what a pain.
good outcome, but definitely a process worth avoiding if possible!
