HSA Contributions ??

[FatWallet111]

Hi Everyone...first post, wish me luck.

So here's the deal, I enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan at the end of 2012 (changed my insurance coverage from a different plan to the HDHP) which comes with a Health Savings Account (HSA). The HSA was opened on January 4th, 2013 through a bank.

I elected for payroll deductions, and currently there is a fixed amount that is taken out of each of my paychecks. I understand that contribution deadlines for the HSA is April 15th, 2013 (tax deadline). What I'm wondering is can I fund the account so that I max it out for Tax Year 2012 by making a lump sum deposit before the tax deadline of this year. Or, does anything that goes in the account now automatically count towards tax year 2013? I have heard many different answers and no one seems to have an authoritative grasp on this.

Per the IRS website on HSA's, it states:

When To Contribute

You can make contributions to your HSA for 2012 until April 15, 2013. If you fail to be an eligible individual during 2012, you can still make contributions, up until April 15, 2013, for the months you were an eligible individual.

How do you guys interpret this? I will not bias you with my interpretation, but let's open this up for discussion of some sort. If there is anyone out there who knows for sure if I can (still have the option to) make a lump sum payment to max it out for 2012, I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks.

[MonkeyMama]

You did not open the HSA account until 2013, so you can not make 2012 contributions. If you had opened it in 2012, you would have been able to.

Are you saying you were eligibe during 2012 as in you literally changed insurance during 2012? OFf the top of my head, I thought you had to be eligible AND open an HSA in that same calendar year, even so. I have to presume if you changed insurance at "end of year," the new insurance did not go into effect until 2013, anyway.

[FatWallet111]

Thanks for your reply. You stated this definitively...do you feel 100% on it?

I am confused on this:

"You can make contributions to your HSA for 2012 until April 15, 2013. If you fail to be an eligible individual during 2012, you can still make contributions, up until April 15, 2013, for the months you were an eligible individual."

I read this as simply...if you weren't an eligible individual during 2012 (meaning not part of a HDHP/HSA), which I was not...that I can still make contributions until April 15th 2013 for the MONTHS THAT I WAS AN ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL (meaning Jan 1st 2013 - Apr 15th 2013).

What am I missing or misunderstanding?

[MonkeyMama]

I have no idea what that means - probably a typo. You are right - doesn't make any sense.

[MonkeyMama]

Okay - it means that if you were eligible early in 2012, but then no longer eligible for the rest of 2012, you can still contribute for the months that you were eligible.

Basically, "If you fail to be an eligible individual during 2012" means, "at some point you were no longer eligible, during 2012."

The first time I read it I said, "Huh?" But I read again with a clearer head. (I Was determined to decipher whatever the heck).