Tax Form 5498-SA: Boxes, Form 8889, and 2026 Limits

Form 5498-SA is an informational tax document your HSA custodian sends to you and the IRS each year, reporting how much was contributed to your Health Savings Account, Archer Medical Savings Account, or Medicare Advantage MSA during the tax year, along with the account’s year-end value.¹ You do not file it with your return. You use the numbers on it to complete Form 8889, which is where your HSA deduction actually gets calculated.²

The custodian handles the filing. Your copy is a reference document. It reports contributions, rollovers, and year-end value only. Distributions from the account show up on a separate form, the 1099-SA.

What Each Box Reports

Box 1: Tax Year

The calendar year the contribution information applies to. A contribution made in early 2026 but designated for the 2025 tax year appears on the 2025 form, not the 2026 form.

Box 2: Total Contributions Made in the Calendar Year

This is the number most people focus on. Box 2 shows every dollar deposited into your account during the calendar year, regardless of source. Your payroll deferrals, your employer’s contributions, and any third-party deposits are all lumped together.¹

One point that trips people up. If your employer contributes to your HSA, those amounts are already excluded from your taxable wages on your W-2 (Box 12, code W). They still appear in Box 2 of the 5498-SA because the custodian reports every dollar that went in, but you can’t deduct them again on Form 8889. The employer piece reduces your allowable personal deduction dollar for dollar.

Box 3: Prior-Year Contributions

Contributions you made during the current calendar year but earmarked for the prior tax year. You have until the April tax filing deadline to make contributions that count toward the preceding year’s limit.² A deposit made in February 2026 that you designated as a 2025 contribution shows up in Box 3 on your 2025 Form 5498-SA.

The custodian decides whether a contribution lands in Box 2 or Box 3 based on what you tell them at the time of deposit. If you don’t specify, most custodians default to the current year. Confirm the designation before making early-year deposits.

Box 4: Rollover Contributions

Any rollover contributions the account received during the year. A rollover moves funds from one HSA to another HSA (or from an Archer MSA to an HSA) through your hands, typically as a check you deposit within 60 days. Rollovers are not deductible and do not count toward your annual contribution limit.¹

Box 5: Fair Market Value

The total value of assets in your account as of December 31.¹ If your HSA holds investments, this reflects year-end market price. Box 5 does not affect your deduction calculation. It’s a snapshot for record-keeping.

Box 6: Account Type

A checkbox indicating whether the account is an HSA, an Archer MSA, or a Medicare Advantage MSA.³ Most readers will see HSA. Archer MSAs follow different rules and limits.

Moving the Numbers onto Form 8889

Form 8889 is where the 5498-SA data actually does something on your return. Part I calculates your deduction; Part II handles distributions from Form 1099-SA.

Start with Box 2. That total feeds into Form 8889, Line 2.² Because Box 2 includes employer contributions, Form 8889 separates them out on Line 9 so only your personal contributions produce the above-the-line deduction. That deduction flows to Schedule 1 of Form 1040 and reduces your adjusted gross income.

Box 3 amounts do not go on the current year’s Form 8889. They belong on the prior year’s return. If you already filed the prior year without accounting for them, amend that return rather than report them on this year’s form. Double-counting a Box 3 amount on both years is the most common mistake.

Box 4 rollovers don’t produce a deduction and don’t count toward your annual limit, but you still report the rollover on Form 8889 as required. Box 5 doesn’t touch the deduction calculation at all.

2026 Contribution Limits

The Box 2 total only tells you something useful when you compare it against your annual limit. For 2026:⁴

Self-only HDHP coverage: $4,400
Family HDHP coverage: $8,750
Age 55 catch-up: an additional $1,000 on top of either limit, for account holders age 55 or older who are not enrolled in Medicare⁵

You must be covered by a qualifying High Deductible Health Plan to contribute at all. For 2026, the plan needs a minimum annual deductible of $1,700 (self-only) or $3,400 (family), with out-of-pocket expenses excluding premiums capped at $8,500 or $17,000.⁴ If your plan falls outside those thresholds, your contributions may be disqualified.

What to Do if Box 2 Exceeds Your Limit

If Box 2 is larger than your allowable contribution for the year, you have an excess contribution. The IRS charges a 6% excise tax on the excess amount for every year it stays in the account.⁶ The tax gets reported on Form 5329.⁷

You avoid the penalty by withdrawing the excess plus any earnings it generated before the due date of your tax return, including extensions.⁸ Filing for an extension buys you until October. The withdrawn earnings become gross income for the year the contribution was made. Leave the excess in past the deadline and the 6% tax hits every year until you fix it, either by withdrawing the excess or by undercontributing in a future year to absorb it.

Rollovers Versus Transfers

Box 4 only reports rollovers. Direct trustee-to-trustee transfers, where one custodian sends the money straight to another without the funds passing through your hands, are not reported on Form 5498-SA at all, and there’s no limit on how many you can do.³

A rollover works differently. The old custodian sends you the funds and you deposit them into a new HSA within 60 days. Box 4 shows the deposit on the receiving side; the sending account issues a Form 1099-SA. You’re limited to one rollover per 12-month period.⁸ Miss the 60-day window or do a second rollover within 12 months, and the IRS treats the money as a taxable distribution, with a potential 20% penalty if you’re under 65. For moving HSA money to a new custodian, a direct transfer is almost always the safer option.

When the Form Arrives and What to Do About Errors

Form 5498-SA arrives later than most tax documents. Custodians have until May 31 of the year following the tax year to send it.³ That late date exists because you have until mid-April to make prior-year contributions, and the custodian needs time to capture those deposits. Most people file their tax return before the 5498-SA shows up.

Filing before you receive it is fine. Use your own records to complete Form 8889, then check the 5498-SA when it arrives to confirm the numbers match. If they don’t, figure out why. Sometimes it’s a contribution you forgot; sometimes it’s a custodian error.

If the custodian made the mistake, they must issue a corrected Form 5498-SA marked with a “Corrected” indicator at the top. If you already filed using the wrong numbers and the correction changes your tax liability, file an amended return on Form 1040-X.⁹ Small discrepancies that don’t affect your deduction or trigger an excess contribution generally don’t require an amendment. Anything that changes taxable income should be corrected promptly.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Form 5498-SA – HSA, Archer MSA, or Medicare Advantage MSA Information
2
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8889
3
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-SA and 5498-SA
4
Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2025-19
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 223 – Health Savings Accounts
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4973 – Tax on Excess Contributions to Certain Tax-Favored Accounts
7
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 5329
8
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 969, Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans
9
Internal Revenue Service. Form 1040-X – Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return