HSA Contribution (Employee payroll $4,000 and company contribution $500)

[tarkga]

My wife is over 55 - she is maxing out here 2019 HSA contribution - why does the $4,500 show as "Taxable employer contribution" - last year it showed as "Tax-free employer contributions"

[Critter]

If you are looking at a pay stub then ask the employer for a translation/explanation of the entry.  It is still a pre tax contribution according to the IRS. 

[ghost]

If you have not completed the section that asks about your spouse's eligibility for HSA contributions, make sure that's completed correctly. Also check Form 8889 to insure it properly reflects the $4500 allowed limit and shows the $4500 employer contribution (you may have inadvertently doubled it).

I noticed that TT has not updated the HSA limits to 2019 amounts so that's also an issue with yielding the correct result as far as limits.

[Critter]

Yes ... if you are playing with the 2019 program make sure you have entered the correct code in box 12 of the W-2 and completed all the HSA sections  and then WAIT patiently for the 2019 program to be fully operational sometime in January before being alarmed. 

The HSA is handled in 3 parts in the TT program :

First the contribution:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/4557768

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/4785646

Next the limitations screen to confirm you are eligible to make the contributions:

Until you complete the HSA portion of the TurboTax interview to establish your eligibility for an HSA contribution, TurboTax will treat the amount entered on the W-2 form as an excess HSA contribution.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/4788059

And lastly any distribution:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/4787864

[dmertz]

As of 11/21/2019, 2019 TurboTax has not been updated to use the 2019 HSA contribution limits is still using the 2018 limits.  Until that's corrected, when you enter a $4,500 contribution for someone with self-only HDHP coverage TurboTax will treat $50 as an excess contribution even after you enter the HSA-eligibility information.