fsa - Linkenheimer LLP CPAs & Advisors

Don’t Forget to Empty Out Your Flexible Spending Account

If you have a tax-saving flexible spending account (FSA) with your employer to help pay for health or dependent care expenses, there’s an important date coming up. You may have to use the money in the account by year-end or you’ll lose it (unless your employer has a grace period).

As the end of 2023 gets closer, here are some rules and reminders to keep in mind.

Health FSA

A pre-tax contribution of $3,050 to a health FSA is permitted in 2023. This amount will be increasing to $3,200 in 2024. You save taxes in these accounts because you use pre-tax dollars to pay for medical expenses that might not be deductible. For example, expenses won’t be deductible if you don’t itemize deductions on your tax return. Even if you do itemize, medical expenses must exceed a certain percentage of your adjusted gross income in order to be deductible. Additionally, the amounts that you contribute to a health FSA aren’t subject to FICA taxes.

Your employer’s plan should have a list of qualifying items and any documentation from a medical provider that may be needed to get reimbursed for these expenses.

FSAs generally have a “use-it-or-lose-it” rule, […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2023-12-05T17:30:27+00:00December 5th, 2023|Health care, hsa, year-end|0 Comments

No Parking: Unused Compensation Reductions Can’t Go To Health FSA

Among the many lasting effects of the pandemic is that some businesses are allowing employees to continue working from home — even now that the most acute phases of the public health crisis seem to be over in some places. This decision is raising some interesting questions about fringe benefits.

For example, in IRS Information Letter 2022-0002, the tax agency recently answered an inquiry involving a qualified transportation plan participant whose employer now lets him work from home permanently. To avoid losing dollars he’d previously set aside for parking, the participant asked whether he could transfer unused compensation reductions to his health Flexible Spending Account (FSA), which his employer offered through its qualified cafeteria plan.

No cash refunds

The letter explains that, under an employer’s qualified transportation plan, unused compensation reduction amounts can be carried over to subsequent plan periods and used for future commuting expenses. Caveat: employees can’t receive benefits that exceed the maximum excludable amount in any month.

By Linkenheimer LLP|2022-04-27T21:37:40+00:00April 27th, 2022|Health care, irs|0 Comments

Employees: Don’t Forget About Your FSA Funds

Many employees take advantage of the opportunity to save taxes by placing funds in their employer’s health or dependent care flexible spending arrangements (FSAs). As the end of 2020 nears, here are some rules and reminders to keep in mind.

Health FSAs

A pre-tax contribution of $2,750 to a health FSA is permitted in both 2020 and 2021. You save taxes because you use pre-tax dollars to pay for medical expenses that might not be deductible. For example, they wouldn’t be deductible if you don’t itemize deductions on your tax return. Even if you do itemize, medical expenses must exceed a certain percentage of your adjusted gross income in order to be deductible. Additionally, the amounts that you contribute to a health FSA aren’t subject to FICA taxes.

Your plan should have a listing of qualifying items and any documentation from a medical provider that may be needed to get a reimbursement for these items.

To […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-12-09T15:52:23+00:00December 9th, 2020|fsa|0 Comments

If Your Kids Are Off to Day Camp, You May be Eligible for a Tax Break

Now that most schools are out for the summer, you might be sending your children to day camp. It’s often a significant expense. The good news: You might be eligible for a tax break for the cost.

The value of a credit

Day camp is a qualified expense under the child and dependent care credit, which is worth 20% to 35% of qualifying expenses, subject to a cap. Note: Sleep-away camp does not qualify.

For 2019, the maximum expenses allowed for the credit are $3,000 for one qualifying child and $6,000 for two or more. Other expenses eligible for the credit include payments to a daycare center, nanny, or nursery school.

Keep in mind that tax credits are especially valuable because they reduce your tax liability dollar-for-dollar — $1 of tax credit saves you $1 of taxes. This differs from deductions, which simply reduce the amount of income subject to tax.

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:03:51+00:00June 26th, 2019|child, credit, expensing, tax credit|0 Comments

Is an HSA Right for You?

To help defray health care costs, many people now contribute to, or are thinking about setting up, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). With these accounts, individuals can pay for certain medical expenses on a tax advantaged basis.

The basics

With HSAs, you take more responsibility for your health care costs. If you’re covered by a qualified high-deductible health plan, you can contribute pretax income to an employer-sponsored HSA — or make deductible contributions to an HSA you set up yourself.

You own the account, which can bear interest or be invested. It can grow tax-deferred, similar to an IRA. Withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are tax-free, and you can carry over a balance from year to year. So, unlike Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), undistributed balances in HSAs aren’t forfeited at year end.

For the 2019 tax year, you can make a tax-deductible HSA contribution of up to $3,500 if you have qualifying self-only coverage or up to $7,000 if you have qualifying family coverage (anything other than self-only coverage). If you’re age 55 or older as of December 31, the maximum contribution increases by $1,000.

To be eligible to contribute to an HSA, you must have a […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:03:53+00:00June 24th, 2019|hsa|0 Comments