topic Getting an error in app when prompted about my spouses HDHP on Dec 1, 2018 in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Getting an error in app when prompted about my spouses HDHP on Dec 1, 2018

barrychapman — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 01:47:00 GMT

I have nearly finished my taxes for 2019, but when completing the HSA section, I get prompted with this question:

What type of High Deductible Health Plan did E**** have on December 1, 2018?

If E**** had HDHP coverage on December 1, 2018, but failed to be an eligible indidual for other reasons, select None.

// Eligible Individual box

You are an "eligible individual" for a specific month if you meet ALL of the following criteria during that month:

- You are covered by a high deductible health plan (HDHP) at any point during the month
- You are not covered by any other health plan that is not an HDHP (with certain exceptions for plans providing certain types of limited coverage)
- You are not enrolled in Medicare, AND
- You are not eligible to be claimed as a dependent on another person's tax return

// end eligible individual

I respond Family, because that is the plan she was covered by, and was in fact covered.

I clicked Continue

At this point, I get a question saying "Did E****'s High Deductible Health Plan coverage lapse in 2019 due to disability?

We see that E**** had a rbeak in HDHP health plan coverage during 2019. Let us know if this was the result of a disability.

I do not understand this. We had no lapse in coverage.

Why is it asking me this? What / where could I have gone wrong?

Re: Getting an error in app when prompted about my spouses HDHP on Dec 1, 2018

BillM223 — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 13:48:38 GMT

Your issue is with the question that asks "What type of High Deductible Health Plan did [name] have on December 1, 2018?"

Unfortunately, the question does not clarify that it is only for a small group of taxpayers and that all other taxpayers should answer "NONE".

NOTE: each spouse can have an HSA. The use of "you" below refers to whichever spouse's name was in the question above.

This question is trying to determine if you utilized the "last-month" rule in 2018 (yes, 2018). The last-month rule lets you use the full annual HSA contribution limit if you had HDHP coverage on December 1, even if you were not covered by an HDHP for all of the year.

However, the catch is that if you used the last-month rule, the IRS requires that you stay under HDHP coverage for all of the following year (2019).

***NOTE*** This question occurs on the taxpayer who does not have an HSA, so never had a chance to tell TurboTax in the HSA interview what their HDHP coverage was for 2019.

So, the fix is this: go back to the question (at the end of the HSA interview), and:

If you had HDHP coverage for all of 2018 , then enter NONE
If you had no HDHP coverage for all of 2018, then enter NONE.
If you did not have an HSA in 2018, then enter NONE.
If you had an HSA in 2018 but did not contribute to it in 2018, then enter NONE.

Only taxpayers who had their own HSA in 2018 AND who contributed to their own HSA in 2018 should answer “Family” or “Self” or “None” (which can be the right answer in some cases).

Re: Getting an error in app when prompted about my spouses HDHP on Dec 1, 2018

chlalex — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 21:41:25 GMT

@BillM223 ,

I still face the same confusing/misleading question in 2025 for the 2024 return.

It seems you're turbotax employee and expert, so I suppose you explanation is correct. But could you push turbotax to fix this misleading for good?

For me, it shows the unprofessional of turbotax and reduce the confidence of me in turbotax. People may turn to other tool/agent next year, simply because of this kind of issue.

Re: Getting an error in app when prompted about my spouses HDHP on Dec 1, 2018

BillM223 — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 23:15:50 GMT

Be assured that I have reported this confusion to those who support the product.