HSA

The Child Health Savings Account Act of 2022 (H.R. 6507), introduced by Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) in the House of Representatives, would expand HSA contribution eligibility requirements by allowing parents to contribute and deduct up to $3,000 each year to their childrens’ HSAs.

The HSA will be treated as the parent’s HSA until the child reaches age 18. At that time, it would become the child’s HSA. As the bill is currently drafted, any distributions taken out of the HSA before the child’s 18^th birthday would be included in the parent’s taxable income. Nonqualified distributions would also be subject to an additional 20 percent penalty tax. Once the child turns 18, distributions would be considered qualified only if they were taken while the child was not a dependent on the parent’s insurance (the child could be treated as the parent’s dependent for certain permitted insurance, but not for the parent’s health plan).

If the child were to become disabled or die, the parent would no longer be able to make contributions, but could roll over any HSA assets to their own IRA or HSA, or to another child’s HSA.

If enacted, this legislation would become effective for tax years beginning after the date of enactment. Any progress of the bill through Congress will be monitored, and details provided as they become available.

The IRS has issued a news release announcing the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for victims of severe storms, straight-line winds, and tornadoes in Tennessee. The tax relief postpones various tax filing deadlines that began December 10, 2021. Affected individuals and households who reside or have a business in Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Gibson, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Obion, Stewart, Sumner, Weakley, and Wilson counties, as well as taxpayers with records located in the covered area that are needed to meet covered deadlines, qualify for relief.

The IRS has announced that tax filing season will begin on January 24, 2022. The filing deadline for 2021 tax returns or requests for extension is April 18, 2022, for most taxpayers because of Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C. For taxpayers in Maine and Massachusetts, the deadline to file is April 19, 2022, because of Patriots’ Day. Taxpayers who request an extension will have until October 17, 2022, to file their 2021 returns.

The IRS has released a pre-publication version of proposed regulations amending rules intended to increase the filing of electronic returns in accordance with the Taxpayer First Act of 2019. Additionally, the IRS has withdrawn previously proposed regulations regarding electronic filing that were published on May 31, 2018.

Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) recently introduced two bills aimed at providing more flexibility for the use of health savings accounts (HSAs). Senate bill 2113 proposes to expand permissible distributions from an employee’s health flexible spending arrangement or health reimbursement arrangement to the employee’s HSA. Senate bill 2099 proposes to make HSAs more broadly available by removing the requirement that individuals be enrolled in a high deductible health plan. Further details of these proposals have not yet been made available.

IRS Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.) 2021-25 provides the 2022 inflation-adjusted amounts for health savings accounts (HSAs) and the maximum amount that may be made newly available for expected benefit health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs).

The IRS has issued Notice 2021-21, in which the IRS makes official the previously announced delay of the April 15, 2021 federal income tax filing due date for individuals for the 2020 tax year to May 17, 2021. This delay is a result of the ongoing COVID-19 Emergency Declaration issued in March 2020.

The IRS has issued Announcement 2021-7, indicating that amounts paid for personal protective equipment (PPE)—such as masks, hand sanitizer, and sanitizing wipes—that are primarily used to prevent the spread of COVID-19, are treated as amounts paid for medical care under Internal Revenue Code Section 213(d). As a result, the amounts are also eligible to be paid or reimbursed under health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs), health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), and health savings accounts (HSAs).

The Treasury Department and IRS have announced that tax filing due dates for 2020 tax year federal income tax returns, including the federal income tax payment deadline, will be automatically extended from April 15, 2021, to May 17, 2021. No special form must be filed to request the filing extension. The IRS will be providing formal guidance in the coming days.

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt far and wide, both in the U.S. and globally. But what has it meant for tax-advantaged savings levels in vehicles such as retirement , 529, and health savings & flexible spending accounts? Our proprietary data, tracked over the course of 2020, reveal shifts in contribution and withdrawal behaviors by business owners and individuals in response to the financial challenges posed by the pandemic. Overall, these insights suggest a continued appreciation for the importance of savings and the ability to access these savings when needed.