Form 8889: How to Report Your HSA

Form 8889 is the form you use to report a Health Savings Account (HSA) on your federal return. You attach it to Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR. The form covers three things: your contributions and deduction, your withdrawals, and any extra tax that applies. This page covers tax year 2025. For the 2026 limits, read HSA basics. IRS: Form 8889 (2025)

Who must file

The instructions say you must file Form 8889 if any of these is true:

You, your employer, or someone else made contributions to your HSA.
Your HSA made a distribution, which is a withdrawal.
You were not an eligible individual during a testing period, and you must recognize income.
You acquired an interest in an HSA because of the death of the account beneficiary.

The first bullet matters most for workers. If your employer put money into your HSA, you must file even if you did not contribute anything yourself. IRS: Instructions for Form 8889 (2025)

Part I: contributions and deduction

Line 1 asks which health plan you had in 2025. Check self-only or family. For 2025, the limit is $4,300 with self-only coverage and $8,550 with family coverage. Line 3 uses these amounts if you were under age 55 at the end of 2025 and eligible every month. IRS: Form 8889 (2025), lines 1 and 3

Line 2 is what you contributed for 2025. It includes contributions made in 2026 up to the unextended due date of your 2025 return, April 15, 2026. Do not include employer contributions or rollovers. IRS: Instructions for Form 8889 (2025)

If you were 55 or older at the end of 2025, the instructions allow an additional $1,000 contribution. Employer contributions go on line 9. Your HSA deduction is figured on line 13. Your employer reports its contributions in box 12 of Form W-2 with code W. IRS: Instructions for Form 8889 (2025)

Part II: withdrawals

Line 14a is the total you took out of all your HSAs in 2025. Your HSA trustee reports this amount on Form 1099-SA, box 1. Line 15 is the qualified medical expenses you paid with those withdrawals. The taxable part goes on line 16. Line 16 then goes to Schedule 1 (Form 1040), Part I, line 8f. IRS: Form 8889 (2025), Part II

A withdrawal that is not used for qualified medical expenses can owe an extra 20% tax. That tax is figured on line 17b and goes to Schedule 2 (Form 1040), Part II, line 17c. Check the box on line 17a if an exception applies. IRS: Form 8889 (2025), lines 17a and 17b

Part III: losing HDHP coverage

Part III covers the case where you were not eligible during the testing period. Line 18 is the last-month rule. It can let you count a full year if you were eligible on December 1, but you must stay eligible through the testing period. Line 21 multiplies line 20 by 10%. That amount goes to Schedule 2 (Form 1040), Part II, line 17d. IRS: Instructions for Form 8889 (2025)

Too much in the account

If you put in more than the limit, the extra is an excess contribution. The tax code imposes a 6% tax on excess HSA contributions, and the instructions send you to Form 5329 for that tax. If you withdraw the excess, and any earnings on it, by the due date of your return, including extensions, the excess can be treated as if it had not been contributed, if the conditions in the instructions are met. IRS: Instructions for Form 8889 (2025)

Steps to follow

Collect your HSA trustee's year-end statement and any Form 1099-SA.
Check Form W-2, box 12, for code W to find employer contributions.
Note your health plan type for 2025, and whether you were 55 or older at the end of the year.
Fill in Parts I, II, and III. Attach Form 8889 to your return.

Read HSA basics for eligibility rules and the 2026 limits. Read Schedule 2 to see where the additional taxes go on your return.

General information, not advice for your situation.

Sources: Sources: IRS, Form 8889 (2025), Health Savings Accounts (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8889.pdf); IRS, Instructions for Form 8889 (2025) (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8889.pdf) This is general information, not advice about your specific return.

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