HSA Contributions by employer

[gjgogol]

Hello - I was in an HSA eligible HDHP plan by employer. My employer was the federal government, thus I had health insurance through them (FEHP). TT asks for contributions amount made by employer, however, my W2, Box 12 did not identify any contributions. My insurance administrator HSA issued a 5498-SA Tax Form. In that tax form, Box 2 shows Total contributions made in 2024. Is this a nuance of working with the federal government health insurance? Do I still indicate the contributions made by the employer in TT even though the amount doesn't show up in my W2?

[BillM223]

No, your employer just made a mistake.

All HSA contributions made either by your employer or by you through payroll deduction are reported with code W in box 12 on your W-2. This is not optional.

However, employers do make mistakes.

So, when you know the numbers (the total of how much your employer contributed PLUS how much you contributed through payroll deduction), then do the following:

1. Enter the HSA interview.

2. When you are asked if the employer told you about any other contributions, answer YES.

3. Three more lines will appear. The bottom one will say something like "Employer contributions for 2024 not reported on the W-2".

4. Enter your HSA contributions that should have been on your W-2 on this bottom line.

NOTE: these HSA contributions SHOULD HAVE BEEN REMOVED from Wages in boxes 1, 3, and 5 on your W-2. You have no way of knowing of your employer did that just by looking at your W-2; you have to ask them.

If your employer also did not remove these HSA contributions from Wages in boxes 1, 3, and 5 on your W-2, then right now, these contributions are still taxable. That is, your employer has made two mistakes.

To deduct these HSA contributions in this case, then, you would go into the HSA interview (Deductions & Credits->Medical->1099-SA, MSA, HSA), and look for the screen, "Let's Enter [name's] HSA contributions." On the second line, where it says "personal contributions", enter your dollar amount there.

This is not normally the right place, but if your employer also made the second mistake of not removing the HSA contributions from Wages 1, 3, and 5 on your W-2, then this is how you fix it.

You should talk to your employer first and ask them what they did.