How to Correct Excess HSA Contributions

A health savings account, or HSA, can be an excellent way to control your health care costs and reduce the financial impact of an unexpected medical problem. With an HSA, you put money aside on a pretax basis and use those funds to pay for out-of-pocket costs and other expenses not covered by your health insurance plan. But when investing in an HSA, you need to be aware of the contribution limits set forth by the Internal Revenue Service. If you exceed the limits, you could be subject to additional taxation unless you withdraw the excess contributions properly.

Things You'll Need

• HSA statement

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Instructions

• 1

  Contact the administrator of your HSA. You can find the phone number and website address for the HSA administrator on your monthly or quarterly statement.

• 2

  Ask the representative how much you contributed to your HSA during the tax year. The representative from the HSA administrator can let you know if the amount contributed exceeds the current IRS guidelines.

• 3

  Have the HSA administrator calculate the earnings made on those excess contributions. You need to withdraw both the excess contributions themselves and any income made on those contributions.

• 4

  Tell the HSA administrator that you wish to withdraw the excess contributions you made during the tax year. Instruct the administrator to send you a check for the amount of the excess contributions, plus any income made on those contributions.

• 5

  Copy the check before you cash it. Keep a copy of the check with the next HSA statement you receive with the one that shows the withdrawal of the excess contributions. Keep this documentation with your tax records.