Bug Report: HSA Contributions - Desktop Premier

[bgix]

I have a unique (for me) situation that I have never encountered before. My spouse and I were only covered by an HDHP for Jan-Nov in 2025. I retired in May 2024, and got to remain on my last companies HDHP via COBRA for 18 months. That means it ran out Nov-2025. I got the cheapest plan on the ACA exchange I could find for December (my spouse refused to weather a gap in insurance coverage). The plan I got was a cheapo Bronze plan that amazingly wasn't HSA eligible, and the cheapest HSA eligible plan would have cost $2500 instead of the $1500 I paid.

No biggie, until I started using TurboTax to do my taxes. I can walk it through all of the HSA questions, accept my contributions to Spouse and own accounts ($4858 each) that included a $45.83 return of excess contributions (cause I tried to contribute 11/12 of two individual + 1000 catch-ups instead of 11/12 of family max + two 1000 catch-ups). It all works, and my 1040 looks great etc.

But I am still waiting on a 1099-B and a 1099-INT (although I pretty much know what they will say... confirmed by my oddball W2 that includes the ESPP discount), so I save and exit... one step shy of e-filing.

The bug is in how it saves and then restores the "return in progress". This has happened at least three times: Saying both myself and spouse are covered by a family HDHP for Jan-Nov, but not December breaks it's brain. I can tell immediately because my $1900+ refund that was there the last time I worked on it disappears and is replaced by a $900+ ballance due. So I have to go back through and correct it, even though I now know that it will happen pretty much every time I save and return later.

[GabiU]

Hi @bgix 
We're currently investigating this and will reach out to you with updates. Thanks for the report.

[bgix]

So I downloaded the update of Desktop Premier today (22-Jan-2026).

It is more like the problem is covered up instead of fixed.

It no longer "forgets" that I was covered by an HSA eligible HDHP JAN-NOV but not DEC, however if you re-run the Step-by-Step interview for Medical->HSA deduction, it is still filling out the Line 3 Smart Worksheet of forms 8889-T and 8889-S incorrectly.

If you read part A of the Smart Worksheet carefully, you will see that you can

*EITHER*

tick one of the three boxes in the "If you had the same coverage every month" section at the top...

*OR*

check 12 of the boxes below "if coverage varied during 2025".

Your Step-by-Step interview mode does both, and that is not allowed. The only way I can make it "look right" is to do 8889-T and 8889-S in "Forms" mode.

[DaveF1006]

Yes, sometimes if you make a change in the interview mode, the code will stick, making it hard to remove. When that happens, you need to delete the 8889 and then enter the HSA information back into the return.

1. Go to Forms Mode (top right) of your return. 
2. Find Form 8889-T (and 8889-S for your spouse).
3. Click the Delete Form button ‌ of each.
4. This will reset the "Smart Worksheet." 

Go back to Step-by-Step and re-enter the HSA section. To prevent the "double-checking" of boxes:

1. When asked "Did you have the same coverage all year?", you must answer No.
2. Even though you had the same coverage for 11 months, answering "Yes" is what triggers those top boxes that are currently conflicting with your December status.
3. Enter your coverage for each month manually. This forces TurboTax to only use the 12-month grid and leave the "same coverage" section blank.

Once you've finished the interview, switch back to Forms Mode and verify:

1. Part A (Top): The "Self" and "Family" boxes should be empty.
2. Part A (Monthly): Only Jan through Nov should be checked. Dec should be "None".
3. Line 3: This should show the prorated amount (e.g., $3,942 for 2025 Self-only coverage if Jan–Nov were covered)

You can also do this in the forms mode since forms 8889-T and 8889-S are editable. If you do this, make sure that you do not pick self or family in part A of the smart worksheet. Then check each month individually and then select self-only or family in each of those months. If it is done correctly, it will show $3,942 as the correct pro-rated total under the maximum amount contribution.

@bgix