HSA Error by QuickBooks

[amypavlic]

My employers QuickBooks Payroll account had a glitch and shows a whopping $0.31 in box 12b of my W2. I do not currently have nor have I ever had an HSA, so this box should be blank. It is a total hassle for my employer to correct this (if QB does it, it will take 60 days. If she does it manually, total hassle and who knows how long it will take!) If I just leave it alone and file my taxes, does this have any actual impact on my taxes: how I file, what I will be charged? We're talking about a measly $0.31 here, I can't imagine it will have any kind of impact, but never having had an HSA, I know absolutely nothing about them and any implications. Is it okay to just proceed filing my taxes with this incorrect information on my W2? Thanks!

[rjs]

Box 12 on a W-2 has places for 4 entries, labeled 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d. Those are just the box numbers. They don't tell you anything about what the amounts are for. Each entry in box 12 has to have a one- or two-letter code as well as the amount. Any code can go in any one of the 4 boxes.

What makes you say that the amount in box 12b is related to an HSA? You didn't say what the code is in box 12b. The code for HSA contributions is W. If the code in box 12b is anything other than W, it has nothing to do with an HSA.

Regardless of what the code is, just omit the entire box 12b entry from TurboTax. Don't enter anything at all, neither the code nor the amount. All amounts on a tax return get rounded to whole dollars. The $0.31 would get rounded to zero. The IRS doesn't care about amounts less than 50 cents. So it's okay to go ahead and file without that entry, even though it's on the W-2 that you got.

[amypavlic]

Yes, sorry I forgot to add the "W" is in the box, that's how I determined it was HSA contribution. 

Thank you, I will leave it blank!

[Opus 17]

In general, the IRS allows you to round numbers up or down to the nearest whole dollar.  Since 31 cents rounds down to zero, I would leave it blank.  The IRS probably won't follow up.