Implement Health Savings Accounts (HSA) (6 Merged Votes)

rgumpertz
rgumpertz Member ✭✭✭✭
edited October 2023 in Product Enhancements
Please implement HSAs, similar to Keoghs and 529s, but different
126
126 votes

Declined · Last Updated

Submitted for review 8/17/23, CBT-125/CTP-7510 Declined as it will not be implemented at this time. 10/3/23

«13

Comments

  • Eric
    Eric Member ✭✭
    edited August 2019
    Although an FSA is technically just like a savings account, it is locked to a single year. In addition, it starts out with a balance upon which to draw throughout the year, which is paid back to "0" by pretax payroll deductions.
    Neither the Credit Card nor Checking Account versions work to accurately track, especially across a calendar year. You can continue submitting reimbursement requests up until March 31 of the year after the benefit year.
    Using a credit card or checking account template is impossible to reconcile because of the lack of an end date. The only other option is creating a new FSA for each calendar year. That's inefficient.
    It would be nice to have the template for FSA and HSA accounts as a New Account option.
  • Dazza
    Dazza Member ✭✭✭
    Eric,

    What I do is create a "Property and Debt" account for my HSA.  Every month when I get my statement (in the mail or online), I reconcile that account.  You should also link your paycheck to this account too.  
  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    I've had my wife's HSA account in Q for 5 years.  It's set up as a Savings account, with the proper tax attributes set.
    Other HSA accounts, that I've red about on this forum, are set up as Investment accounts, with the proper tax attributes set.
    SO, what would you expect Q to do that it's not already doing?  An HSA account isn't a specific "type" (like checking, savings, investment), so how could Q do things differently?

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  • rgumpertz
    rgumpertz Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited January 2020
    When you look at Edit Account Details, whet do you see for the Account Type? For IRAs, the Account Type is IRA. For a 529 Plan, it is "529 Plan". Why is there no Account Type for HSAs? (They would be similar to but subtly different from Roth IRAs.)

    What do you mean by "with the proper tax attributes set"? What attributes did you set and where? If you are referring to the "Tax Schedule" sub-menu of Edit Account Details, what did you choose for each of "Transfers in" and "Transfers out"?

    For contributions made between January 1 and April 15, how do you record whether the contribution is for the current year or the preceding year (as is implemented by Quicken for IRAs)?
  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Retracting a bit of my earlier comment.  I have NO tax attributes set for her HSA ... this is because all of the Transfers IN come from her paycheck (where they're set as "Pre-Tax Deductions") and there are no Transfers OUT (the expenses paid from the HSA go to an "HSA Expense" category that has no tax attribute. 
    And since all of her contributions to the HSA come from her paycheck, they get recorded in the same year as the paycheck, and in the same manner as is reported on her W-2. So  1/1 to 4/15 isn't an issue for us.

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  • System
    System Member admin
    This discussion was created from comments split from: Why isn't there a tax line item for HSA contributions (form 8889) in Quicken 2014?.
  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    There is NOTHING about an HSA that setting it up properly, with the proper Tax Deferred status, can't handle.
    AND, there is nothing special about an HSA account that can't be managed with the current options.
    If I could, I'd vote AGAINST this idea.

    Q user since February, 1990. DOS Version 4
    Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Business & Personal
    Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP

  • Snoopy FC
    Snoopy FC Member ✭✭✭✭
    Same thing applies to Quicken on Mac.  We could use an HSA Investment account setup too.  
    QMac Subscription - iMac - Quicken Mac user since 1995
  • sanden
    sanden Member
    HSA setup is not intuitive and I also would like HSA investment support in Q. HSAs don't have to be like a savings account.
  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Like an HSA savings account, an HSA investment account is just a regular investment account with special tax attributes set.
    It's NOT a unique account type.
    I'd vote against this idea also.

    Q user since February, 1990. DOS Version 4
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  • rgumpertz
    rgumpertz Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited February 2020
    An HSA is tax exempt, not tax deferred. Normal (health-related) distributions and (helath-related) transfers do NOT incur any tax liability.

    So please tell me what are the "special tax attributes" that should be set?

    Yes, it should be easy for Quicken programmers to implement as a variant of IRAs, but it is not easy for the end-user.
  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    rgumpertz said:
    An HSA is tax exempt, not tax deferred. Normal (health-related) distributions and (helath-related) transfers do NOT incur any tax liability.

    And that can all be set via the Tax Attributes of the account.  STILL, no HSA type needed.
    Also, any non-health related expenditures from the account ARE taxable.  So, it's not entirely tax-exempt.

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  • rgumpertz
    rgumpertz Member ✭✭✭✭
    So please tell me what are the "special tax attributes" that should be set?
  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Payroll transfers into the HSA are recorded, in Q's Paycheck Wizard, as "Pre-Tax Deductions".
    Payments from the HSA are recorded to a special Category that I created "HSA Expenses".
    It's that simple.

    Q user since February, 1990. DOS Version 4
    Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Business & Personal
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  • rgumpertz
    rgumpertz Member ✭✭✭✭
    My HSA is funded directly by me, not by an employer, so "Pre-Tax Deductions" is irrelevant. Instead, transfers to my HSA need to be HAS Contributions (analogous to IRA contributions). The earnings in my HSA have to be marked as tax-exemp (again, like an IRA). Transfers out of my HSA to reimburse my eligible expenses have to reduce my total Medical Expense tax deduction. (There are probably a few other details that I haven't thought of on the fly!)

    How do I do all that with a normal account without using at least a few kludges?
  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    On what line of your Federal tax return do you report HSA contributions?
    There's no "Tax Exempt" setting in Q.  You'll need to settle for Tax Deferred.
    On what line do you report those HSA expenses?

    Q user since February, 1990. DOS Version 4
    Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Business & Personal
    Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP

  • rgumpertz
    rgumpertz Member ✭✭✭✭
    HSA contributions are reported on Form 8889 and then go to Schedule 1 (Form 1040) Line 12.

    Actually, Quicken does have a provision for Tax Exempt earnings for Roth IRAs. HSAs could be implemented similarly to:
    - traditional IRAs for contributions
    - Roth IRAs for earnings
    - Roth IRAs for qualified distributions
    I don't remember whether Quicken implements non-qualified distributions for Roth IRAs; I vaguely recall that it does not. If it does implement them, however, then HSAs would be implemented analogously.

    HSA distributions are reported on Form 8889
  • AaronD
    AaronD Member ✭✭
    I would also appreciate this feature.
  • johan peeters
    johan peeters Member
    I agree and believe in the benefit to have this type of account options, specially if the HSA is setup with investment options
  • Chris_QPW
    Chris_QPW Member ✭✭✭✭
    As I read through this thread one thing jumps out at me, and that is in fact there isn't any such thing as a "HSA account type".  Just in this thread alone I see at least a three different kinds of HSA accounts.  Some people "savings accounts", other "investment accounts" others talk about accounts that seem to be a mix of the two.

    What's more there is the talk about things that are completely outside of just the account type.  As in the limits and tax ramifications.

    If I have an IRA or 401K account they certainly have limits, but there isn't anything in Quicken that is going to limit these.   And the tax ramifications are "carried out" more in the reports and tax planner, life planner and such than actually in the account itself.

    What's more again just going by what was stated in this thread (I don't have any of these accounts and haven't looked up all the rules), but looking at this post:
    "HSAs could be implemented similarly to:
    - traditional IRAs for contributions
    - Roth IRAs for earnings
    - Roth IRAs for qualified distributions"

    That sounds extremely complicated to implement, and I don't even know all the places that it might come up.  It is easy to state that this is like that and that is like that, but when you are picking an choosing different "like thats" for different parts that strike me as a programmer a lot of "custom code" for this account type in lots of places.
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  • pklocke
    pklocke Member ✭✭✭
    in a way, it is really an investment account, or perhaps more specifically, an asset account (which is how I use it). My accounts get very minimal interested quarterly, thus my point on investment. But as an Asset account, the combination of transactions using my old Accounting 101 mindset, how do you handle:

    1) Contributions to the account during your working years (if a retiree savings account)
    2) Payments to providers
    3) Reimbursements sent to me from the account, when I file paper work, and ...
    4) How do I manage this from a budgeting perspective?

    For example, as a retiree, I have budgeted my monthly (hopefully planned) best guess at what my medical costs might be. But, if I am getting reimbursed from my asset account, does this make it an expense, or....????? (that is offset)?

    Example:
    1) Go to dentist and he charges you $100. I enter this transaction on my credit card account with category of Dental (I set this when I see it on my credit card download)
    2) I get my copy of dentist bill and file for reimbursement
    3) I get a deposit in my checking account (or could have been a check). What Category do I use for this? Dental?

    In the example, I have shown against my budget the $100 Spend for Dental, but when I am reimbursed, if I "credit" the Dental item, I am back to zero $ spend. Does not reflect what is happening.

    Meanwhile, my HSA is not changing at all. So I am manually entering an adjustment to match the reduction, but this seems "so not right" in my old Acct 101 "T-Accounts" mind.

    Pat
  • mehranmoss
    mehranmoss Unconfirmed, Member
    Obviously and surely adding a HSA account type in Quicken is possible and wouldn't take years!
  • kformella
    kformella Member ✭✭
    Adding the HSA feature to Quicken is most helpful for me because of the different tax treatment in my STATE. I can set up a Roth IRA account or some other round-about method of tracking contributions and withdrawals accurately enough for my FEDERAL return, but my STATE does not handle them the same way. Without being properly characterized for both federal and state returns, there it no way to accurately import my Quicken data into Turbo Tax and I'm always concerned about the accuracy of my numbers when I have to adjust some of them once their imported to TT.