Form 8889-T. I have a self coverage plan and my spouse has a family plan to cover our daughter. Why can I not mark self coverage?

The IRS rules say that if one spouse has Family coverage and the other spouse has Self, then they both report it as Family coverage. This makes the calculation of the maximum annual HSA contribution limit correct.

So, yes, even though you have a Self Plan, you do the following in the HSA interview:

• On the screen entitled "Was [your name] enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) in 2016?" (see screenshot below), enter for the second question ("Who was covered by this HDHP?"), you only,
• On the same screen, a new question will appear, asking "Was [uour name] ever involved in a family plan in 2016?"; answer this question "yes".
• The next screen will then ask month by month to list your coverage. Even though you have a Self Plan, enter "Family" for each month (assuming that she had Family coverage all year).

As for the tax due and refund, TurboTax has to defer the completion of form 8889 until the end if the HSA interview, because there are questions all the way to the end (until you return to Your Tax Breaks) that affect the calculations.

Therefore, it's not a good idea to be too concerned about the tax due or refund on every single screen, because TurboTax can't do some calculations until a number of screens later.