Why does TurboTax say that there was an excess HSA contribution even when the total contribution was under the IRS limit?

[KsDd]

In 2024, my spouse and I were on HDHPs and contributed 4150 each to our HSAs. The 4150 contribution to each of our HSAs included employer contributions. So the total HSA contributions for both of us was 8300, which was the IRS family HSA limit for 2024.

Note that I am preparing a Married Filing Separately return. And so I only included my HSA related info. TurboTax says that I made an excess contribution of 4150, which I believe is incorrect.

[Mike9241]

did you prepare 8889 for each of you. also make sure your spouse's w-2 is denoted as for her.

go through the answers to the questions Turbotax asks about HSA, this forum has no access to your return.

there are 4 rules

1. must be covered by a HDHP
2. may not be cover by a non HDHP, however specialized health insurance for such things as dental, cancer, vision are ignored
3. can't be enrolled in Medicare. Note there is a 6 month look back 
4. can't be eligible to be claim as a dependent on another person's return. Your spouse is not a dependent. 

[KsDd]

Sorry I should have mentioned in my original question that I am preparing a Married Filing Separately return, so I only included info related to my HSA, not my wife's. I've also edited the original question to add this info.

[KsDd · Accepted solution]

So I think I figured out the problem. In the HSA interview, there is a question about Archer MSA contributions but it incorrectly asks for the total Archer MSA and non-Archer HSA contributions. Then TT adds that number to HSA contribution it already has from the W-2, and which of course results in TT concluding that there was an excess contribution. I removed the number in my answer to the Archer MSA question (despite the text explicitly asking for total contribution including to Archer MSA and non-Archer HSAs), and that fixed the problem.

[dmertz]

Do not confuse an Archer MSA with an HSA.  They are not the same despite the fact that contributions to an Archer MSA reduce the amount that you are eligible to contribute to an HSA.