TT says my wife had a break in HDHP coverage during 2020 but she did not. Why? The previous page asked "What type of HDHP coverage did she have?" I answered "Family".

Your issue is with the question that asks "What type of High Deductible Health Plan did [name] have on December 1, 2019?"

 

Unfortunately, the question does not clarify that it is only for a small group of taxpayers and that all other taxpayers should answer "NONE".

 

NOTE: each spouse can have an HSA. The use of "you" below refers to whichever spouse's name was in the question above.

 

This question is trying to determine if you utilized the "last-month" rule in 2019 (yes, 2019). The last-month rule lets you use the full annual HSA contribution limit if you had HDHP coverage on December 1, even if you were not covered by an HDHP for all of the year.

 

However, the catch is that if you used the last-month rule, the IRS requires that you stay under HDHP coverage for all of the following year (2020).

 

***NOTE*** This question occurs on the taxpayer who does not have an HSA, so never had a chance to tell TurboTax in the HSA interview what their HDHP coverage was for 2020.

 

So, the fix is this: go back to the question (at the end of the HSA interview), and:

 

• If you had HDHP coverage for all of 2019 , then enter NONE 
• If you had no HDHP coverage for all of 2019, then enter NONE.
• If you did not have an HSA in 2019, then enter NONE.
• If you had an HSA in 2019 but did not contribute to it in 2019, then enter NONE.

 

Only taxpayers who had their own HSA in 2019 AND who contributed to their own HSA in 2019 should answer “Family” or “Self” or “None” (which can be the right answer in some cases).

Thanks so much Bill for that clear detailed explanation and solution! I thought it must be a bug also.