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New Member
posted Jun 6, 2019 3:57:24 AM

If I didn't contribute any money to my HSA account but my employer did can I not file 1040ez? I never used my healthcare insurance at all in 2017.

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1 Replies
Level 13
Jun 6, 2019 3:57:25 AM

No, you cannot file the 1040-EZ for the reasons listed below.

The IRS requires you to file form 8889 (for the Health Savings Account) if you or your employer:

  • made a contribution in 2016, <===
  • took a distribution in 2016, or
  • inherited the HSA during 2016

If there is a code "W" in box 12 on your W-2, then you and/or your employer made contributions to the HSA. If you entered a 1099-SA, then you took distributions from your HSA.

If you didn't do either, then TurboTax would not have known that you had an HSA (because it wasn't active in 2017) and would not have forced the upgrade.

The HSA "form" is form 8889. Because form 8889 requires form 1040, form 8889 is part of TurboTax Deluxe and higher versions.

It's really in your best interests to file form 8889, because until you submit a complete form 8889 (which TurboTax will complete based on your answers in the HSA interview), the IRS assumes that all contributions to and distributions from your HSA are taxable, and they will send you a letter to that effect asking for the completed form or the tax.