May I still make tax-deductible contributions to my HSA for 2017, if I didn't max out contributions before the end of 2017 and my 2018 plan is not eligible for an HSA?

[rhoffen]

I pay for my health insurance myself through the Marketplace (not through an employer).  I had a high-deductible health plan paired with an HSA in 2017.  I did not make the maximum contributions to that plan before January 1, 2018.

In 2018 I have a new health plan that does not qualify for an HSA.  I wonder if I can "catch up" my 2017 contributions - and have them deductible on my 2017 taxes - before April 15, 2018, even though my 2018 plan does not qualify.

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

Yes.  Like contributions to an IRA, you have until the regular due date of your 2017 tax return to make HSA contributions for 2017.

The fact that you will not be eligible to make contributions for 2018 only affects your eligibility to make a full-year contribution under the last-month rule.  It does not affect your eligibility to make contributions corresponding to those months of 2017 that you were an eligible individual (which would be a full-year's contribution if you were eligible all 12 months of 2017, making the last-month rule irrelevant).

Make sure that you identify to the HSA custodian that the contribution is for 2017.  By default they will assume that the contribution is for 2018.

[bhavik-mehta]

What's HSA eligible ? I have an HSA from a previous employer. I have PPO coverage through a new employer. I am thus not eligible for HSA. Can I still make contributions to my existing HSA and deduct taxes?

[dmertz]

By HSA-eligible, I mean eligible to contribute to an HSA for a given month.  Eligibility for a given month is determined by having qualifying HDHP coverage on the first day of the month, having no disqualifying coverage (including Medicare) that month, and not being able to be claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return:
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p969#en_US_2017_publink1000204025">https://www.irs.gov/publications...>

In your case, you would not be eligible to contribute for any month that you were not covered by an HDHP plan or for any month that you *were* covered by the non-HDHP PPO plan.  If you changed coverage in 2017, you have until April 17, 2018 to contribute to an HSA for any month of 2017 that you were HSA-eligible.