cmkey[at]msn.com wrote:
- quote -

cmkey...you are correct. thanks so much for the help. i
spoke to a cpa at one of the companies I am currently
consulting at and he said the same thing. thanks for your
confirmation as well. also i did call the irs to verfiy (i
just want to be safe).

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

skadoo323[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

I am not a tax expert - but a company bookkeeper who has gone through
setting our employees up in HSAs and realized early on that
your question is going to be a very common one.

If your HSA contribution was made pre-tax as part of a
cafeteria plan you have already avoided paying taxes on it,
so you cannot deduct it on your tax return.

IRS Notice 2004-2 says "Contributions to an employee's HSA
through a cafeteria plan are treated as employer
contributions. The employee cannot deduct employer
contributions on his or her federal income tax return as HSA
contributions or as medical expense deductions under section
213."

I'm guessing your contributions are within a cafeteria plan
and that is why your employer put them under code "W."

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

This is my first time filing taxes where I have had to deal
with a health savings account. I know that I should consult
a CPA, which I probably will do tomorrow anyways, but was
wondering if anyone could offer any help. First of on my w2
in box 12 it states a code of W $519.96. From what I read a
code w means that my employer made the contributions, but
all the contributions were deducted from my pay and is shown
on my pay stubs, so how is that an employee contribution and
not a self contribution? The insurance company that my HSA
is with sent me a 5498 SA form. On that it states that I
should use a form 8889.

From what I have been told, I should not be taxed on the
amount in my HSA. In Turbo Tax it reported the $519.96 on
line21 of my federal 1040. An accountant I know said that
the amount should be deductible and reported on line 25 of
my federal 1040, hence I won't be taxed on the amount in my
HSA.

Now what I am confused about is everything in Turbo tax for
the form 8889 does not correspond to the form 5498sa given
by the HSA's trustee.

On my 5498 it shows the following:
Box 1 empty
Box 2 $519.96
Box 3 empty
Box 4 empty
Box 5 $521.57
Box 6 HSA is checked off

From those boxes what information corresponds to the
information needed for a 8889 form?

Basic information that I think is correct when looking at
the form 8889 is that only myself is covered under the high
deductible plan and my deductible is at $2100.

Thanks for any input. This is my first time working with
taxes for a HSA and I have never had any problems filing my
taxes in the past nor got audited, so I'd like to keep the
clean record going.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >