topic HSA contribution double-entry in Deductions & credits

HSA contribution double-entry

skanouse — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 03:52:48 GMT

I (truthfully) answered the question about Box 12 on my W2, which was offered with no instruction or context, causing my HSA contributions to be counted as a deduction against income although they were paid with pre-tax income. I have tried everything I have found on this forum to correct this, including deleting my W2, clearing the cache, logging out, and re-importing the W2. No matter what I do (including the "tools>HSA" search query recommended in prior years), I can no longer find the screen that had the question that I answered (truthfully) in a way that caused Turbotax to double-count my contributions. I do not have access to the "forms" option because I use the online version of the software.

Please help!

Re: HSA contribution double-entry

NCperson — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 09:04:22 GMT

@skanouse there is a question along the way that asks whether you made any contributions to an HSA - it trips a lot of people up.

You are to respond with any DIRECT contributions and NOT include any money that was withheld from your paycheck.

Most likely you entered what was already accounted for on your W-2 and should be answering $-0-.

Re: HSA contribution double-entry

skanouse — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:23:30 GMT

Yes, I am fully aware of the nature of the problem. The issue is that I cannot fix it.

I have tried everything I have found on these forums going back to 2019 and cannot get back to the screen where this question appears to change my answer. I've deleted my W2, cleared the cache, logged out, logged in, re-imported my W2 and NOTHING WORKS. I'm on the verge of deleting my entire tax return and starting from scratch, wasting the six hours I have already spent entering my taxes.

They need to change the question to make clear that it is referring to post-tax contributions. The question was something like "Does box 12 include HSA contributions made by you or your employer?" Of course the answer would appear to be yes. But it should be no. That is ridiculous.

Re: HSA contribution double-entry

skanouse — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:24:45 GMT

The point is NOT that I don't know what is wrong. I know fully well what is wrong. The point is that I cannot figure out for the life of me how to correct it.

Re: HSA contribution double-entry

NCperson — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:32:11 GMT

@skanouse the W-2 entry is correct. that is not the issue.

in the desktop version, it's under Medical and then HSA - that is where the contribution question is. Sounds like it needs to be zero.

Re: HSA contribution double-entry

skanouse — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:14:02 GMT

I am using the online version.

I have gone through the HSA portion of the questionnaire multiple times. indeed, I have gone through the entire deductions section three or four times. I have searched for HSA and manually changed things. This question about whether Box 12 included employer/employee contributions has never re-appeared.

I never said the W2 was incorrect. I said that the question about Box 12 did not provide enough context for folks to answer it correctly. I am pretty savvy about this stuff and I did not answer it correctly because it did not specify that it was asking about whether the contributions were pre- or post-tax. The reason this question trips people up is because it is poorly phrased and misleading.

Re: HSA contribution double-entry

skanouse — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:38:08 GMT

The online software seems to have fixed itself? I logged in this morning and the HSA contribution listed last night on the non-editable summary screen has now disappeared (as it should have).

A similar thing happened in February with my business profit and loss, which stubbornly refused to display or compute the numbers I had already entered until suddenly it did a few weeks later.

Online version seems to be getting buggier with each passing year.