TurboTax says I need to upgrade because "you have Additional Tax on Excess Contributions or Deductions (Form 5329)" but I looked up that form and I don't. Why?

[sagerjt]

On the IRS website for form 5329, under the "Who Must File" section, the only situation that COULD apply to me is that I contributed to my HSA in 2022.  
However, I checked box 12 item W of my W-2 and I did NOT exceed the Individual contribution limit for 2022 (limit $3,650, I had $3,092.48).  
Am I missing something?  How do I review why the system thinks I need this?  I tried to get support from TurboTax but apparently that's not free either!  

[CatinaT1]

Did you have a 1099-R you entered on your return? If you had an early withdrawal from a retirement account, there is a 10% penalty that is calculated on that form.

[sagerjt]

No, I didn't enter a 1099-R. 

I have an IRA and a 401k and I have never made a withdrawal. 

[ShirlynW]

Form 5329 is the tax form used to calculate possibly IRS penalties  and possibly request a penalty waiver. 

You may need this form in three situations:

• Early distributions from a tax-favored account
• Excess contributions to a tax-favored account
• Failing to take required minimum distributions.

For more information

[sagerjt]

Update: I believe I may have figured out the problem. I am documenting this in case anyone else has the same problem - since this form applies to multiple situations, this might not be what happened to you, but might point you in the right direction.

I learned the total on my W-2 box 12, item W does not list the full HSA contributions for 2022, as I believed.

I'm actually still scratching my head trying to figure out what that $3,092.48 number represents - I thought maybe it was my Employee contributions, but that doesn't add up. My employer offered to match HSA contributions up to $500, but $3,092.48 plus $500 only equals $3,592.48, which is still less than the $3,650.

Helpfully, my HSA's website has a transaction history that breaks down Employee and Employer contributions.

Unhelpfully, it shows my Employee contributions as $3,115.62, which doesn't match my W-2 and my Employer contributions as $534.38, which doesn't match their Matching Contribution.

Helpfully (again), it did maybe help me solve this (maybe).

$3,115.62 + $534.38 = $3,650, the contribution limit. (hooray, we got somewhere!)

And in addition to the Employer and Employee Contributions, there's a single line item: "Individual Contribution $20," bringing my total contributions for 2022 to $3,670, which is $20 over the limit.

Why did my HSA contributions exceed the limit with no warning? No idea.

How did TurboTax know my contributions exceeded the limit? That's the rub. I never (knowingly) provided them any form that listed HSA contributions other than my W-2.

Did they get that information from the IRS, or my HSA directly?

The TurboTax website doesn't say, and more importantly, TurboTax doesn't appear to show $3,670 ANYWHERE in the process so they never gave me the ability to troubleshoot what was wrong on my own.

Ultimately, feeling the crunch of the tax filing deadline and not wanting to pay TurboTax an ungodly support fee in the hopes they would explain why I should also pay them an ungodly Premium filing fee, I assumed their website was wrong and filed my taxes with another tax software solution.

I hope that if you found this Community post, it was helpful or at least amusing.

And if anyone at TurboTax is reading this: please route this to someone who can look into the very user-unfriendly situation I encountered.

While the website did tell me what form I needed which helped me narrow down the problem area, there was nothing I could do to figure out specifically what the problem was.

It would have been helpful if the total contribution was shown somewhere in the process, especially if it could have alerted me that the number exceeded the contribution limit.

Also if you are pulling personal information about me from some source, I expect the website to disclose that information somewhere - and specifically, not an, "I agree" Terms of Service button that says some incomprehensible legal jargon like, "Intuit and TurboTax and their third party contractors, successors or assigns may blah blah blah." 

I don't do business companies that obtain private financial information about me without my informed permission.

[BillM223]

"I learned the total on my W-2 box 12, item W does not list the full HSA contributions for 2022, as I believed." - True, the code W lists the sum of contributions made by your employer to your HSA plus contributions made by you through payroll deduction. These are called employer contributions because these two types of contributions are made though the employer and are treated the same way.

"Why did my HSA contributions exceed the limit with no warning? No idea." - who would warn you? Your employer does not know enough about your situation to know if you have actually made excess contributions (after all, you can make contributions directly to you HSA without telling your employer). Your HSA custodian does not know enough about your situation either - your HSA custodian does not know what kind of HDHP coverage you have nor for what months - after all, if you change insurance from HDHP to non-HDHP, do you run right out and tell your HSA custodian?

No, the only people who know enough to know if you made excess contributions are your tax software - and you use that only once a year.

"Did they get that information from the IRS, or my HSA directly?" - Absolutely not.  TurboTax knows only what you told it.

"TurboTax doesn't appear to show $3,670 ANYWHERE in the process so they never gave me the ability to troubleshoot what was wrong on my own." - You should have been able to infer the $3,670...your annual HSA contribution limit is $3,650 and TurboTax told you that you made $20 in excess contributions - there's your $3,670.

"there's a single line item: "Individual Contribution $20," " - I assume that you are reading this from your HSA statement from your HSA custodian. I also have to assume that you entered this $20 as a personal or direct contribution (since I guarantee you that TurboTax didn't get it from your HSA custodian - in fact, if you think about it, TurboTax doesn't even know who your HSA custodian is unless you happen to enter a 1099-SA.

"I assumed their website was wrong and filed my taxes with another tax software solution." - No, it is far more likely that you made a mistaken entry into TurboTax, which caused TurboTax to appear to be wrong.

"It would have been helpful if the total contribution was shown somewhere in the process, " At the end of the HSA interview is the HSA Summary, which shows you all the information that you would need to understand your HSA contributions. It even lists: "Deduction" (the amount of direct contributions to your HSA), and "Tax-free employer contributions" (the code W amount that come through your employer).

"Also if you are pulling personal information about me from some source," - this is absolutely not happening. As I pointed out above, you don't tell TurboTax who your HSA custodian is, and the IRS doesn't even have the information that you think TurboTax snared in a nefarious manner until after tax season - much too late to help TurboTax do your tax return.

TurboTax in the simple case is DIY software - it presumes that you understand enough about taxation to be able to recognize what to enter and why. To help taxpayers who fall short of this level, TurboTax offers two different levels of assistance: TurboTax Live and TurboTax Live Full Service. The former offers you the ability to - at any point - ask a tax professional questions on what you are doing, and the latter offers you the option to have a tax professional just do your return.

And, of course, you can always come here to the Community where in tax season, credentialed tax professionals like myself (we are Enrolled Agents, CPAs, and attorneys) answer in great detail your tax questions.