What this line means
Your HSA contributions for 2025 that were NOT made through your employer’s payroll. This includes direct deposits you made to your HSA from your bank account, contributions made by April 15, 2026 that you designate for the 2025 tax year, and qualified HSA funding distributions transferred from an IRA. Do not include employer contributions or payroll-deducted contributions here — those go on line 2. 1
Does this apply to you?
- You made contributions directly to your HSA outside of payroll deduction
- You made a contribution between January 1 and April 15, 2026 and designated it for tax year 2025
- You transferred money from an IRA to your HSA (a qualified HSA funding distribution)
- You contributed to your HSA on your own because your employer does not offer payroll-deducted HSA contributions
Easy to overlook
Contributions made between January 1 and April 15 of the following year You have until April 15, 2026 to make HSA contributions that count for the 2025 tax year. If you did not max out your contributions during 2025, you can still contribute the remaining amount before the filing deadline and deduct it on your 2025 return. 2 IRS Publication 969 — Health Savings Accounts
Qualified HSA funding distributions from an IRA You can make a once-in-a-lifetime transfer from a traditional IRA to your HSA. The transferred amount counts toward your annual HSA contribution limit but is not taxable as an IRA distribution. Filers who completed this transfer sometimes forget to report the amount on line 1. 3 IRS Form 8889 instructions — Line 1
Watch out for this
Do not include payroll-deducted HSA contributions on this line. Amounts your employer withheld from your paycheck and deposited into your HSA are already excluded from your W-2 Box 1 wages. Reporting them here double-counts the deduction. Those amounts belong on line 2 as part of the W-2 Box 12 Code W total. For 2025, the self-only HDHP contribution limit is $4,300, the family coverage limit is $8,550, and those age 55 or older get an additional $1,000 catch-up contribution. 4
Footnotes
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IRS Form 8889 Instructions, Line 1. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8889.pdf ↩
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IRS Publication 969, Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p969.pdf ↩
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IRS Form 8889 Instructions, Qualified HSA Funding Distribution. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8889.pdf ↩
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IRS Revenue Procedure 2024-25, HSA Contribution Limits for 2025. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-provides-tax-inflation-adjustments-for-tax-year-2025 ↩