Form 8889 Line 3

[jsloss24]

I had a High Deductible Health Insurance Plan from June through December of 2019, while carrying other insurance for the first half of the year while I was in school. I am having trouble understanding the instructions for filling out Form 8889, as I am amending my federal tax return for some other things that I neglected to include. On Line 3, it says to put $3,500 if I carried the high deductible insurance for EVERY month of the year, but the instructions say that if you are an eligible individual on the first day of the last month of the year, you are considered eligible for the whole year. So, do I put $3,500 on Line 3 like Credit Karma automatically did when I originally filed my taxes, even though I only had the high deductible insurance for half of the year?

[BillM223]

Yes, you put $3,500 for every month of the year because of the last-month rule, which states that if you have HDHP coverage in the last month (i.e., on December 1st), then you are permitted to use the full annual HSA contribution limit (as if you have been under HDHP coverage for every month).

But why are you filling in the 8889 yourself? Use the amendment process in TurboTax - it would apply the last-month rule automatically.

[jsloss24]

I originally used Credit Karma to file my taxes. Would you have access to my return if I filed through another source?

[BillM223]

No. To amend your return here, you will have to enter your original return into TurboTax, check the output to make sure it matches the return you filed originally, then use the amending process in TurboTax to create the 1040X and associated forms, which you will print and file.