dmertz
Level 15

Retirement tax questions

It's unfortunate that you missed completing the HFD testing period by less than a month.  Failing to meet the testing period does not make it an excess contribution, but it does make the HFD taxable and subject to a 10% penalty on your 2017 tax return.

TurboTax doesn't have a separate question for failing to meet the testing period for an HFD.  However, this is treated the same way as failing to satisfy the testing period for the last-month rule.  In 2017 TurboTax you'll indicate that you made a contribution under the last-month rule and that your entire HFD amount was Excess Contribution Amount Using the Last-Month Rule.  ("Excess contribution" here is a misnomer, even in the case of actually using the last-month rule.)

You might consider reporting this as a regular taxable distribution from your IRA, subject to the 10% early-distribution penalty, and a regular deductible HSA contribution under the last-month rule.  This would allow you to pay tax and an additional 10% penalty only on the portion of the contribution for the first 3 months of 2016 that you were not eligible for an HSA contribution.  Paying 10% penalty on the entire distribution from the IRA plus tax and 10% penalty on only the additional HSA contribution made under the last-month rule could be less than paying tax and penalty on the entire amount of the HFD.