US HSA Contribution & Tax Savings Calculator
How much you can put in your health savings account, and what it saves you in tax.
Tax year 2026 IRS HSA limits and HDHP rules · Sources
Tax saved on your contribution
| Tax | Saved |
|---|
Month by month (Form 8889 line 3 chart)
| Month | Coverage | Amount |
|---|
Limits and official sources
| Tax year | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Self-only coverage limit | $4,400 | $4,500 |
| Family coverage limit | $8,750 | $9,000 |
| Catch-up at 55 or older | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| HDHP minimum deductible (self-only / family) | $1,700 / $3,400 | $1,750 / $3,500 |
| HDHP out-of-pocket maximum (self-only / family) | $8,500 / $17,000 | $8,700 / $17,400 |
| Direct primary care fees, at most a month | $150 / $300 | $150 / $300 |
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-19 — HSA limits and HDHP amounts for 2026
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2026-24 — HSA limits, HDHP and direct primary care amounts for 2027
- IRS Publication 969 — health savings accounts
- IRS Instructions for Form 8889 — line 3 limitation chart, catch-up and spouses
- IRS Notice 2026-5 — bronze and catastrophic plans treated as HDHPs, direct primary care
- IRS Publication 15-B — HSA contributions through an employer are exempt from Social Security and Medicare tax
- IRS Publication 15 — Social Security and Medicare tax rates and wage base
- IRS Topic 560 — Additional Medicare Tax
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 — tax rate tables, capital gains rate amounts and standard deduction for tax year 2026
Tax rules and rates change. This calculator follows the rules described on this page and may not cover every situation. Check the official source or a qualified tax professional before filing or invoicing.
About the US HSA Contribution & Tax Savings Calculator
A health savings account (HSA) lets you put money in before tax, let it grow tax-free and spend it tax-free on qualified medical costs — but you can contribute only while you are covered by a high deductible health plan (HDHP) and by nothing else that pays before the deductible. This calculator checks your plan against the HDHP rules, works out your contribution limit the way Form 8889 does — month by month, with the last-month rule, the $1,000 catch-up from age 55, a family limit shared with a spouse and your employer’s contributions — and estimates the tax you save: federal income tax from the rate tables, and Social Security and Medicare tax when you contribute through payroll.
The limit is $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage, from all sources together. The year list holds each tax year whose limits the IRS has set, and the calculator shows the tax year it uses.
How to use it
- Choose the tax year and your coverage: self-only or family all year, or month by month if you started, stopped or changed coverage (months with Medicare do not count).
- Optionally enter your plan’s deductible and out-of-pocket maximum to check that it is an HDHP, and tick anything that would make you ineligible.
- Tick 55 or older if that applies at the end of the year, and say whether your spouse also contributes under your family coverage.
- Enter what your employer puts in and how you contribute (payroll or on your own), then your taxable income and wages for the tax saved.
- Read your limit, what you can still add and the tax saved; copy the summary or download the CSV.
Examples
Single · $60,000 taxable income · $75,000 wages
Limit $4,400 · saves $968 federal tax (22%) + $336.60 Social Security and Medicare = $1,304.60
Married filing jointly
Limit $8,750 + $1,000 catch-up = $9,750 · you can add $8,750
Months July–December not eligible
$4,400 × 6/12 + $1,000 × 6/12 = $2,700
Last-month rule
$729.17 by months, or $8,750 with the last-month rule if you stay eligible through the end of the next year
Out-of-pocket maximum $12,000
Not an HDHP: the family deductible must be at least $3,400
Who can contribute
You are an eligible individual for a month when, on the first day of that month (IRS Publication 969):
- you are covered by an HDHP — a plan whose annual deductible is at least $1,700 (self-only) or $3,400 (family) and whose out-of-pocket costs, not counting premiums, are at most $8,500 or $17,000 (IRS revenue procedure);
- you have no other health coverage that pays before the deductible, such as a spouse’s regular plan that covers you or a general-purpose health FSA or HRA. Dental, vision, accident, disability, long-term care and telehealth coverage are allowed, as are limited-purpose and post-deductible FSAs and HRAs;
- you are not enrolled in Medicare, and nobody can claim you as a dependent.
Bronze and catastrophic plans available as individual coverage through a Marketplace (Exchange) are treated as HDHPs whatever their deductible, and a direct primary care arrangement with fees of up to $150 a month ($300 for more than one person) does not stop you contributing (IRS Notice 2026-5).
How the limit is worked out
- Month by month: for each month you are eligible on the first day you get 1/12 of the self-only or family limit; months with family coverage count at the family rate. This is the Line 3 Limitation Chart in the Form 8889 instructions.
- Last-month rule: if you are eligible on December 1, you are treated as eligible all year with December’s coverage and can contribute the full year’s limit — but you must then stay eligible until December 31 of the following year. If you don’t (other than through death or disability), the extra becomes taxable income with a 10% additional tax.
- Catch-up: at 55 or older at the end of the year you can add $1,000, prorated by months unless the last-month rule applies.
- Married couples: if either spouse has family coverage, both are treated as having it, and the family limit is split between you — equally unless you agree otherwise. Each spouse’s catch-up goes into their own HSA; there are no joint HSAs.
- Everything counts: your own contributions, your employer’s and payroll contributions through a cafeteria plan all go toward the same limit.
The tax you save
Contributions you make yourself are deducted on your return even if you don’t itemize, so they save federal income tax at your marginal rate. Contributions through payroll (a cafeteria plan) count as employer contributions: they are left out of your taxable wages and are also free of Social Security tax (6.2% up to the wage base) and Medicare tax (1.45%, plus the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on high wages) (IRS Publication 15-B, Publication 15). States set their own rules: enter your state rate only if your state also exempts HSA contributions.
Money spent on qualified medical expenses comes out tax-free at any age. Other withdrawals are taxed, with a 20% additional tax unless you are 65 or older or disabled.
Too much in the account
Contributions above your limit are excess contributions: they are not deductible, and a 6% excise tax applies for each year they stay in the account. You avoid it by withdrawing the excess and what it earned by your return’s due date, including extensions; the earnings are taxable income (Publication 969). Contributions for a year can be made until the tax-filing deadline in April of the following year.
Limitations
- Federal rules; state tax is a single rate you enter (some states tax HSA contributions).
- One person’s HSA. For a married couple with separate HSAs, run it for each spouse with the share of the family limit you agree on.
- Archer MSA contributions and qualified HSA funding distributions from an IRA, which also reduce the limit, are not included.
- The tax saved uses the rate tables on your taxable income alone; credits and income-based phase-outs that a lower income can change are not included.
- For a tax year whose income tax brackets the calculator does not hold yet, the tax saved uses the latest year it has, and says so.
Privacy
Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.
Frequently asked questions
What is the HSA contribution limit?
$4,400 for self-only HDHP coverage and $8,750 for family coverage, plus $1,000 if you are 55 or older at the end of the year. The limit covers everything paid into your HSA — your own, your employer’s and payroll contributions.
I started my HDHP in the middle of the year. How much can I contribute?
One twelfth of the yearly limit for each month you were covered on the first day of the month — or the full year’s limit under the last-month rule if you are covered on December 1, provided you stay eligible through December 31 of the following year.
Can I contribute to an HSA once I am on Medicare?
No. From the first month you are enrolled in Medicare (Part A or Part B) your limit is zero, including months of backdated coverage. You can still spend the money already in your HSA, tax-free, on qualified medical expenses.
Do employer contributions count toward my limit?
Yes. Your employer’s contributions, and what you put in through payroll, count toward the same yearly limit as what you contribute yourself. Form W-2 box 12 code W shows them.
Is it better to contribute through payroll?
Usually: payroll contributions through a cafeteria plan avoid Social Security and Medicare tax as well as income tax — another 7.65% on wages up to the Social Security wage base — while contributions you make yourself save income tax only.
What happens to my HSA money at the end of the year?
It stays in the account and keeps growing tax-free, and the account stays yours if you change jobs. That is unlike a health FSA, where money left beyond any carryover or grace period the plan allows is forfeited.