the inherit HSA question is wrong

[jb10000lakes]

It asks if I inherited my wife's HSA. The answer (for real) is No, yet it wants a No answer if the answer was yes

[MaryK4]

@jb10000lakes Can you clarify your question?  Why would it matter if you did not inherit your wife's HSA? 

[jb10000lakes]

The TTax asks the question, Did John inherit this HSA?  I did not inherit it, so my answer would be "no", correct?   But the 'help' message on the very same page says if I did inherit it to answer "no" which is the exact opposite.

[MaryK4]

@jb10000lakes Thank you for your reply- when I read your comment, I was confused and when I went to your reference I can see why (because the way it is on the page).  It is because an HSA inherited from the spouse is treated as yours so there is no tax impact, but I think it would be clearer if the question was "Did you inherit this HSA from someone other than your spouse?"  

[Scarecrow2]

So what is the proper way to answer this question?

[BillM223]

Scarecrow2

As counterintuitive as it may seem, when you are asked if you "inherited" your HSA from your spouse, answer NO, if you got your HSA from your spouse. 

This is because, as Mary said above, you don't "inherit" an HSA from your spouse, instead, upon the death of your spouse, his/her HSA simply becomes yours. The HSA custodian just changes the name on the books and that's it.

On the contrary, if you actually inherit the HSA from anyone other than your spouse, then you are taxed on the distribution from the HSA, as if you took a distribution from an IRA.

@Scarecrow2