Form 8889 Confusion

[Me_3290]

So I was not aware that I am not allowed to contribute to my HSA unless I have an HDHP, which I did not have last year.  As a result, I now need to withdraw the funds listed on line 12 of my W2, but the problem I'm running into is TurboTax wants me to choose what type of HDHP plan I had last year.  While entering my information I put that I did not have an HDHP last year, so how do I get around this?

[BillM223 · Accepted solution]

While in the HSA interview, you will be asked if you had any HDHP coverage in 2024. You can say NONE here.

Later, in the Review, TurboTax gets confused when you have HSA data but no HDHP coverage, so it insists that you mark Line 1 on the 8889 as Family or Self. 

To get around this, just mark Self. This won't be a problem because you already told TurboTax that you had no HDHP coverage for any month in the year, so the numbers on your return will be correct. We are just doing this to work around the error check in the Review that catches you.

NOTE: you may get a different error in the Review, and the easiest way to deal with cascading errors is to remove delete all HSE data and to start the HSA data over again. To delete all HSA data, do the following:

HSA RESET

***Reset***

1. make a copy of your W-2(s) (if you don't have the paper copies)

2. delete your W-2(s) (use the garbage can icon next to the W-2(s) on the Income screen)

*** Desktop***

 3. go to View (at the top), choose Forms, and select the desired form. Note the Delete Form button at the bottom of the screen.

*** Online ***

 3. go to Tax Tools (on the left), and navigate to Tools->Delete a form 

4. delete form(s) 1099-SA (if one), 8889-T, and 8889-S (if one)

5. go back and re-add your W-2(s), preferably adding them manually

6. go back and redo the entire HSA interview....