Can I close the HSA and take the money out of the account without a penalty. I contributed to an HSA post-tax in 2017 and have not claimed the money on my taxes.

If you are asking is if you can take the money out that you have contributed this year like you never made the contribution ... probably not but ask the HSA administrator if it can be done without anything being reported.

Once you receive your remaining balance, you have 60 days to contribute your funds into another HSA in your name, or use them for qualified medical expenses.

• Funds not contributed into an HSA could be subject to income tax.
• Funds used for non-medical expenses could be subject to income tax and an additional 20% penalty.

You only have the 20% penalty if you take a taxable distribution from the HSA before reaching age 65.

You are required to report Form 8889 any HSA distributions made for the year.  All money in an HSA is pre-tax, either because you make the contribution through your employer and the employer excludes the amount from box 1 of your W-2, or because you make the contribution yourself and it's turned into pre-tax by the deduction that you receive on Form 1040 line 25.

If you fail to include Form 8889 with your tax return indicating your eligibility to make the HSA contribution, the IRS will treat the contribution (reported to them on Form 5498 filed by the HSA custodian) as an excess contribution subject to a 6% excess contribution penalty each year that the excess remains in the account.  A return of excess contribution is tax and penalty free except that any earnings attributable to the excess contribution must also be distributed and are subject to ordinary income tax.  Unlike a return of an IRA contribution, a return of and HSA contribution is only permitted if the contribution is actually an excess contribution under the law, not because you simply changed your mind about making the contribution.