IRS Corrects Previous HSA Ineligibility Guidance

September 10, 2004 (PLANPONSOR.com) - The Internal Revenue Service, in Notice 2004-50 has corrected previous guidance handed down on Health Savings Account (HSA) ineligibility.

The latest release corrects guidance previously handed down in Notice 2004-2 (See Feds Release HSA Guidance ).  

The correction focuses on one sentence in Q/A-14 of the original guidance.   As it originally read, that sentence stated:  “After an individual has attained age 65 (the Medicare eligibility age), contributions, including catch-up contributions, cannot be made to an individual’s HSA.”

Following the correction, the sentence now states:   “After an individual has attained age 65 and becomes enrolled in Medicare benefits, contributions, including catch-up contributions, cannot be made to an individual’s HSA.”  

The correction also changes the term “becomes eligible for” in the first sentence of the Example in Q/A-14 of Notice 2004-2 to “becomes enrolled in.”

A copy of the correction notice is available at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-04-50.pdf .

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