You are required by the IRS to file form 8889 if you
have either contributions to or distributions from your HSA in
2017. It's not a matter of getting a credit. It is the IRS's
verification that the pre-tax contributions are being spent for medical
purposes and if not you will be taxed. Also, if you made excess
contributions, the IRS will collect tax.
Note that the IRS
has copies of your W-2 and of any 1099-SA forms sent to you. If the IRS has
documentation that you are required to file a form 8889 and you don't, then the
IRS assumes that your contributions and your
distributions were taxable and will likely send you a letter asking for taxes, penalties, and interest.
Your contributions
and distributions are normally not supposed to be taxable, so the IRS
presumption that they are taxable because you did not provide the information.
The Health Savings information under the Deductions area confirms that your contributions and withdrawals are within the rules and limits set by the IRS.
- If you make HSA distributions not used for medical purposes, you will be taxed on these distributions.
- Also, there are contribution limits based on your age. If you made additional HSA contributions, not reported on your W-2, the IRS wants to account for them as well.
- And one other point is that you cannot have an HSA unless you are under a HDHP insurance program. This section also verifies this.
If you choose to not report the HSA contributions and withdrawals, you can do so by deleting the information in box 12 of your W-2. You will delete the W code and the amount as well.
The following link discusses the deletion of this information from your W-2:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3155980-do-i-have-to-claim-my-hsa-contributions-on-my-taxes-i-only...
[Edited 03.11.2018 6:18 PM EST]
