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HSA Excess Calculation for Self-Employed

I am self employed and mistakenly read the out of pocket max as a maximum instead of a minimum for my HSA HDHP.  As a result, the two contributions I made were on an invalid HDHP.   I made the first contribution, 3500 in Nov, 2021 for TY 2021, and the second, 4000, in April of 2023 for TY 2022.  No investments were made on this money but I have had monthly interest accrued since my first contribution.  When I realized the mistake, I contacted Fidelity and they suggested withdrawing the full amount.  I did that on 12/05/2023. 

 

Would my excess on my 2023 return simply be the full amount I withdrew (which I know I would owe taxes on and pay a 6% penalty) or is it more complicated since the contribution errors were made in previous tax years?

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5 Replies
AmyC
Expert Alumni

HSA Excess Calculation for Self-Employed

For 2023, by the end of the year, you had no excess - if it was all withdrawn. You do have "other income" to claim on your return for the excess removed.

When you have an excess, you have a penalty. So, the correct thing to do is amend 2021 and 2022 to include the excess and pay the penalties. The penalties continue until the excess is gone.

 

 

 

About Form 8889, Health Savings Accounts states:

Excess Contributions You Make

To figure your excess contributions (including those made on your behalf), subtract your deductible contributions (line 13) from your actual contributions (line 2). However, you can withdraw some or all of your excess contributions for 2023 and they will be treated as if they had not been contributed if:

You make the withdrawal by the due date, including extensions, of your 2023 tax return (but see the Note under Excess Employer Contributions, later);

You do not claim a deduction for the amount of the withdrawn contributions; and

You also withdraw any income earned on the withdrawn contributions and include the earnings in “Other income” on your tax return for the year you withdraw the contributions and earnings.

 

Deducting an Excess Contribution in a Later Year

You may be able to deduct excess contributions for previous years that are still in your HSA. The excess contributions you can deduct in the current year is the lesser of the following two amounts.

Your maximum HSA contribution limit for the year minus any amounts contributed to your HSA for the year.

The total excess contributions in your HSA at the beginning of the year.

 

Any excess contribution remaining at the end of the tax year is subject to the additional tax. See Form 5329.

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HSA Excess Calculation for Self-Employed

To start, on the  2001 amended form I filled out line 47 of form 5329 with the total contribution made. It calculated the 6% penalty on line 49 and adjusted my Federal Tax Due correctly.  I had to "override" line 47 in Turbo Tax because it was not "enterable" without doing that.  The override tells me it might get that value from somewhere else so I'm wondering if that is the correct place to enter it. I've contacted Fidelity about any previous year forms they could provide, but they only issue forms for the current tax year (I was thinking a 1099-SA). 

 

Also, on another thread, I found the following formula for calculating the earnings of the excess contribution:

 

Net Income = Contribution x Adjusted Closing Balance - Adjusted Opening Balance
                                                               Adjusted Opening Balance
 

You mentioned entering that amount as "Other Income" - where do I enter that in TT without an underlying form?

 

Thanks in advance

 

 
 

 

 

HSA Excess Calculation for Self-Employed

Ignore anything related to withdrawing earnings.  That only applies to withdrawing excess before the filing deadline of the same year.

 

For 2021, you have an excess contribution of $3500.  You need to file or amend your 2021 return to include a form 5329 that reports an excess contribution of $3500 in part VII, and pays 6% tax.  You also remove the tax deduction you claimed and pay income tax on the $3500, of course.   (Note that if you spent some money for qualified medical expenses, and your year-end balance was less than $3500, the 6% penalty is calculated on the year-end balance instead.)

 

For 2022, you have an excess contribution of $7500 (previous carry-forward of $3500 plus new of $4000).  You need to file or amend your 2022 return to include a form 5329 that reports the excess and pays 6% penalty on the entire accumulated excess contribution. You also remove the tax deduction you claimed and pay income tax on the $4000.  (Note that if you spent some money for qualified medical expenses, and your year-end balance was less than $7500, the 6% penalty is calculated on the year-end balance instead.)

 

For 2023, you will report that at the start of the year, you had an excess contribution accumulation of $7500 (or less if you spent it on medical expenses.  You need your 2022 form 5329 when preparing your 2023 return.)  Report the 1099-SA for your withdrawal.  The penalty for having an excess contribution is 6% of the excess, or 6% of the account balance at the end of the year, whichever is less, so if you withdrew the account down to zero on 12/23/23, your penalty for excess contribution on your 2023 is zero.    However, you will pay income tax plus a 20% penalty for non-qualified withdrawal.  So make sure that when entering your 1099-SA, you indicate if part of the withdrawal was used for medical expenses and how much, so you only pay tax and penalty on the amount that was not used for qualified medical expenses.  

 

Ignore the procedure for calculating or paying tax on the "earnings" due to the withdrawal of excess.  You did not complete a withdrawal of excess.  (A withdrawal of excess would mean withdrawing the $4000 excess for 2022 before October 15, 2023.  You missed that deadline.)   You simply have an ordinary withdrawal in 2023, that you either used partly, wholly, or not at all for qualified medical expenses.  The part of the ordinary withdrawal used for medical expenses is tax-free and the part not used for medical expenses is subject to income tax plus a 20% penalty.  Whatever interest or dividend earnings there might have been are included in the withdrawal amount on the 1099-SA and will be taxed accordingly.

 

Here, when you are asked "how much of the withdrawal did you spend on qualified medical expenses?" you can include all medical expenses not reimbursed by insurance or previously reimbursed from the HSA going back to when the account was opened in November 2021.  It's important to understand that once you have money in an HSA, you can spend it tax-free for any qualified medical expenses, even if if the deposit was technically not allowed and subject to penalty.  (Contributions and withdrawals are handled completely separately in the tax code.)  So any co-pays, tests, vision care, dental care, and other qualifying expenses that you might not have already reimbursed from the HSA, can be counted as qualified medical expenses and will reduce the tax and penalty you owe. 

 

Also note for future readers.  Withdrawing the entire amount may not have been the best action to take, depending on your age and expected future medical bills.  If you could have used up that $7500 in 5 years or less for qualified medical expenses (co-pays, glasses, etc.) then the 6% penalty declining over time as you used up the account would probably be less than the income tax plus 20% penalty on the lump sum withdrawal.

HSA Excess Calculation for Self-Employed

Thanks so much for your time and the detailed explanation - it helps clear up a lot.

 

Regarding "It's important to understand that once you have money in an HSA, you can spend it tax-free for any qualified medical expenses, even if if the deposit was technically not allowed and subject to penalty.", Wow - so you are saying that I can add up all of my HSA-eligible expenses since the inception of the account until withdrawal (or is it end of year?) and that would reduce the total excess by that amount and subsequently the 20% penalty?  Even though the contributions were made against an ineligible HDHP? 

 

Also regarding the monthly interest earned on the contributions in the HSA account, do those get included in the excess amounts for 2021 and 2022 (and thus subject to the 6% excise) or are they reported as "Other Income" on a 1099?  And how would they be reported for the 2023 withdrawal?

 

HSA Excess Calculation for Self-Employed

@jsaluki 

Yes, you can use qualified medical expenses since the account was opened to offset the taxes on the withdrawal.  The penalties for making ineligible contributions are separate from the rules on withdrawals.

 

Ignore the issue of the monthly earnings.  That is included in the amount you withdrew in December 2023 and will be taxable on your 2023 return unless you have qualified medical expenses.  The earnings on ineligible contributions do not have to be tracked or reported unless you remove the excess contributions using the special procedure (which you did not).  The 6% penalty offsets the earnings, that's all you have to do. 

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