HSA contribution Line 6 on form 8889 does not match line 5

[Mcmargot]

My husband and I have been covered under a HDHP since a couple of years. He does have a HSA and has contributed to it through his employer (deductions from his wages). We did not use any of the money. 

I am a bit confused that line 6 on form 8889 does not match line 5.

Line 6 states "Enter the amount from line 5. But if you and your spouse each have separate HSAs and had family coverage under an HDHP at any time during 2022, see the instructions for the amount to enter." 

Line 6 does not give us the maximum family coverage from line 5 but only the amount that my husband contributed to his HSA. Is this how it should be in our situation? As I said above, we did not have separate HSAs, only my husband has one.

Thanks!

[JohnW152]

This doesn't sound correct, based on what you're saying.  Go back into TurboTax and check your inputs.

With TurboTax open:

1. Type form 8889 into the search box in the upper right
2. Select the Jump to form 8889 link
3. On the Your HSA summary screen, select Edit
4. On the Tell us about the health-related accounts you had in 2022 page, make sure that only the box for your husband next to Health Savings Account is checked, then select Continue
5. Continue through the HSA screens
6. Answer Yes on the Was [husband] covered by a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) in 2022? screen.  Then, answer the What type of HDHP coverage did [husband] have during 2022? Appropriately

Also, check whether any Form W-2 you have (as opposed to your husband) has a Code W and amount in Box 12.  If so, that indicates that your company made HSA contributions for you. This could also be affecting what you're seeing.

If this doesn't address your issue, please post back.

[Mcmargot]

Thank you so much for looking into this, John!

I did everything of the above and it does not make a difference for line 6 of form 8889. Also, neither me nor my employer contributed to an HSA and my box 12d is empty and does not have a code W.

My husband did not contribute the maximum amount of 7300 dollar but only slightly above 3000 dollar through payroll deductions (which goes on line 9 of form 8889). Is this what causes line 6 to be that amount and not the full 7300 dollar?

As far as I understand it, as the amount on line 2 is 0 anyway, it does not seem to affect our taxable income because this makes our HSA deduction to remain 0.

[BillM223]

Line 6 is used by TurboTax to allocate the Family HDHP contribution limit between you and your spouse. Line 6 may or may not be the same as line 5, and it is not something to worry about.

"Line 6 does not give us the maximum family coverage from line 5 but only the amount that my husband contributed to his HSA. " This can happen as part of the allocation - TurboTax knows how much your spouse contributed so it allocates just enough of the Family coverage to cover that amount. The rest it allocates to you.

Essentially, you should not read the instructions for the 8889 and compare it to what TurboTax is doing, because the IRS instructions are discussing philosophy while TurboTax is handling the actual computation.

What's important is what appear in the final results for the 8889. Do you have any concerns about the final results for the 8889?

[Mcmargot]

Ok, thanks, Bill, that explains a lot! I was only looking into this because when comparing my return from last year and the present return, I noticed the difference on line 6 (despite the situation being exactly the same). But in both cases, the end result on line 13 is a deduction of 0 dollars. So much ado about nothing, it turns out.

Thanks for reassuring me on this one!

[Dmitry]

Sorry that my question is not exactly matching the Subject of this thread.  But I could not find a way to ask a question.

I am using desktop TurboTax Delux.  The questions is about the HSA contribution on form 8889.   
Only one month of the 2022 was covered by HSA (December).  The W-2 has the total amount the employee and employer has contributed during this month.   This is identified by letter W.

The question is, is it ok that TurboTax, entered 0 on line 2 and 3650 on line 3.  Line 3 is a big confusing (to me).  It says EVERY MONTH, but there was only one month where HSA was applicable.

Thank you in advance for clarifying this.

[BillM223]

When you are covered on the first day of December, then you can invoke the last-month rule. the last-month rule lets you use the full annual HSA contribution limit, regardless of how many months you had HDHP coverage. 

So if you had Self-only coverage on December 1, 2022, then your annual HSA contribution limit for 2022 was $3,650, even though you were under the HDHP for just one month.

The catch is that you must stay under HDHP coverage for the next year (i.e., all of 2023).

As for the lines, I assume that you are referring to the 8889. Line 2 is the amount of HSA contributions that you made directly to the HSA, that is, not through your employer. Line 3 is the start of the calculation of the annual HSA contribution limit. This calculation is confusing, even by (or because of) reading the instructions, so if you have specific questions, you can ask them here, otherwise, "declare victory" and continue with your return.

[Dmitry]

Bill,

Thank you very much for your help!  
Dmitry