Reporting contributions from HDHP on Form 8889

[The Tester]

Every month, my health insurance makes a contribution to my HSA which counts towards the HSA limits.  My employer also has the option to make pretax contributions from our pay, which are shown in Box 12 of my W-2 with code W.  However, the HDHP contributions are not reported there, but are included in the total contributions on my 5498-SA.  Per OPM's website, these HDHP contributions aren't considered income, but do I still need to include them on Form 8889?  And if so, where?

Hopefully some other Fed employees can answer.  I haven't found anything on irs.gov that covers this.

[simonsez]

Fed here, I don't think I received a 5498-SA but my W-2 has $2300 for Code W in Box 12.  Mine is pretty simple for this past year - my health insurance puts $100 in at the first of each month ($1200 total).  I put in $2300 via payroll deductions to max out the $3500 self limit.

My form 8889 was just a collection of 0, 1200, 2300, and 3500 in a few places.  My adjustment as it pertained to Schedule 1 for this piece was $2300 (as I don't get to deduct the health insurance contributions from my taxes, only what I contributed).  The instructions on form 8889 seemed pretty straightforward.  Did you have a specific line that you didn't know how to fill out?  I put the health insurance contributions on Line 9 and I contributed on Line 2.  There are also Form 8889 instructions you can follow if the form isn't apparent.

[thesis]

Hm, that seems odd. Any employer contributions (including your contributions through their plan) would be in Box 12 Code W, but I've never heard of your health insurance making contributions. I had no idea that was a thing, and as such I'm really curious whether it is or we're just using different definitions.

5498-SA isn't released until after tax season, but it's only for informational purposes. The number can be misleading, too - it includes all contributions made during year X, including contributions made in year X + 1 for year X. Since you have until the end of the tax season to make contributions for the previous year, this form isn't released before then because it would risk being inaccurate. This threw me off when doing my taxes recently, but I finally figured it out through some online searching. I'm not sure if that helps any, though.

(I tried to compare my "total contributions" from 2019 to my Box 12 Code W and they didn't match. When I looked at the 5498-SA from 2018, which was released later in 2019, I saw that the amount contributed during 2019 for 2018 was the exact difference I was seeing between my Code W and "total contributions" for 2019. If I remember correctly :-) )

[The Tester]

Fed here, I don't think I received a 5498-SA but my W-2 has $2300 for Code W in Box 12.  Mine is pretty simple for this past year - my health insurance puts $100 in at the first of each month ($1200 total).  I put in $2300 via payroll deductions to max out the $3500 self limit.

My form 8889 was just a collection of 0, 1200, 2300, and 3500 in a few places.  My adjustment as it pertained to Schedule 1 for this piece was $2300 (as I don't get to deduct the health insurance contributions from my taxes, only what I contributed).  The instructions on form 8889 seemed pretty straightforward.  Did you have a specific line that you didn't know how to fill out?  I put the health insurance contributions on Line 9 and I contributed on Line 2.  There are also Form 8889 instructions you can follow if the form isn't apparent.

My insurance contributes $75/month for a total of $900.  For me, Code W lists the $2600 I contributed to my HSA, also with a payroll deduction using pretax dollars.  From reading online, this would be considered a cafeteria plan, and would go in Box 9 on Form 8889.  I would think the health plan contributions would go in Box 2, but that would end up reducing my income, and seem's contrary to OPM's FAQ stating that "Premium pass through" payments are not considered income, and you can not deduct them on your income tax return."  Comparing my W-2 and the last LES of the year, it looks like my W-2 taxable wages don't include my Code W contributions.  Were your contributions pre- or post-tax?

[erutio]

I'm a fed also.

I've been putting what is on my W2 on line 9 of form 8889.  In my case, we're on the family HDHP plan, so for last year to max it, it's $200 per pay period, for $5200 total on the year.  For single, you would have your case, $2600 on line 9.

AFAIK, 5498-SA doesn't even come out until after the tax deadline.

[nburns]

Fed here, I don't think I received a 5498-SA but my W-2 has $2300 for Code W in Box 12.  Mine is pretty simple for this past year - my health insurance puts $100 in at the first of each month ($1200 total).  I put in $2300 via payroll deductions to max out the $3500 self limit.

My form 8889 was just a collection of 0, 1200, 2300, and 3500 in a few places.  My adjustment as it pertained to Schedule 1 for this piece was $2300 (as I don't get to deduct the health insurance contributions from my taxes, only what I contributed).  The instructions on form 8889 seemed pretty straightforward.  Did you have a specific line that you didn't know how to fill out?  I put the health insurance contributions on Line 9 and I contributed on Line 2.  There are also Form 8889 instructions you can follow if the form isn't apparent.

If your contribution of $2300 was put in via payroll deductions then it is already pretax and therefore part of the cafeteria plan and cannot be put on schedule 1 as additional deductions. Box 2 is for your contributions but only if they are post tax. That would essentially be double dipping your $2300 contributions. $3500 would be what you put in box 9 and box 2 would be zero.  If I am understanding you correctly.

To the OP, your amount from Form 8889 to put on schedule 1 will also be zero as all contributions from you are done pretax.  Not sure where to put health insurance provided contributions, I assume box 9, but either way your total HSA deduction on line 13 will be zero.

[thesis]

You may have come across this already, but I did find this Bogleheads thread that discusses the issue: https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=242665.

Unfortunately, the conclusion is also less than certain, but it does make it clear that your employer wouldn't know about the insurance contributions, hence why you won't see anything about it on your W-2. It would seem the 5498-SA hasn't be modified to show this information. I think I saw other sites on the web that stated these insurance contributions are not considered income, but are also not deductible. If the IRS forms aren't going to consider it, I'd be very hesitant to force it in somewhere. Publication 969 doesn't even seem to address this. As long as you didn't OVER-contribute, you're still abiding by the rules.

Again, I'm not adding anything very helpful unfortunately, but this is really interesting to me.

[simonsez]

If your contribution of $2300 was put in via payroll deductions then it is already pretax and therefore part of the cafeteria plan and cannot be put on schedule 1 as additional deductions. Box 2 is for your contributions but only if they are post tax. That would essentially be double dipping your $2300 contributions. $3500 would be what you put in box 9 and box 2 would be zero.  If I am understanding you correctly.

To the OP, your amount from Form 8889 to put on schedule 1 will also be zero as all contributions from you are done pretax.  Not sure where to put health insurance provided contributions, I assume box 9, but either way your total HSA deduction on line 13 will be zero.

Sorry for being confusing and outright incorrect.  I had to look into it to be sure, mine are NOT deducted prior to FICA being taken out and are essentially $2300 in post tax contributions by me - it just happens automatically with my paycheck, much like designating x number of dollars each paycheck go to a checking account or something.  Thanks @nburns for setting me straight!  I did do my taxes correctly, just my terminology was off.

[nburns]

If your contribution of $2300 was put in via payroll deductions then it is already pretax and therefore part of the cafeteria plan and cannot be put on schedule 1 as additional deductions. Box 2 is for your contributions but only if they are post tax. That would essentially be double dipping your $2300 contributions. $3500 would be what you put in box 9 and box 2 would be zero.  If I am understanding you correctly.

To the OP, your amount from Form 8889 to put on schedule 1 will also be zero as all contributions from you are done pretax.  Not sure where to put health insurance provided contributions, I assume box 9, but either way your total HSA deduction on line 13 will be zero.

Sorry for being confusing and outright incorrect.  I had to look into it to be sure, mine are NOT deducted prior to FICA being taken out and are essentially $2300 in post tax contributions by me - it just happens automatically with my paycheck, much like designating x number of dollars each paycheck go to a checking account or something.  Thanks @nburns for setting me straight!  I did do my taxes correctly, just my terminology was off.

No worries. Just trying to help but you know what you're doing! Carry on

[The Tester]

I'm a fed also.

I've been putting what is on my W2 on line 9 of form 8889.  In my case, we're on the family HDHP plan, so for last year to max it, it's $200 per pay period, for $5200 total on the year.  For single, you would have your case, $2600 on line 9.

AFAIK, 5498-SA doesn't even come out until after the tax deadline.

eruito, I'm assuming you don't have the pass-through contributions listed anywhere on your 8889?  Based on what I've read here and elsewhere online, I should be doing the same and have my 8889 match my W-2.