 from the contribution side of things, it's easiest to compare something like an HSA as a similar tool to like an IRA where the IRS is basically trying to incentivize and nudge our behavior through tax incentives. So if we put something under the umbrella of say an IRA for example, that means that we're gonna get a tax benefit possibly when we put the money into the IRA and we might get a tax benefit when the money grows to not have to recognize it as revenue and then there's a tax consequent possibly when we take the money out. Similarly here, we have the same kind of questions. If we qualify for a health savings accounts, the tax implications we would think of is one, when we put money into this instrument, do we get a tax benefit? And then two, when that money possibly grows within the account, do we get a tax benefit of not having to record it in income, excluding it from income such as dividend and interest. And then three, when we take the money out, is that a taxable event or not a taxable event? Those are the kind of questions when you see these types of tax tools. So if you meet the eligibility criteria such as being covered under a high deductible health plan and HDHP. So note that then you have to get into the questions of what is a high deductible health plan. Now note that if you're working as an employee, then you might have the capacity for healthcare that's linked basically to your employment. And again, the determination would be, is it a high deductible health plan? Typically the high deductible health plans might be thought of as not the best health plans because you've got this high deductible that you're going to be dealing with, meaning you have to pay the deductible that is higher for the actual services, but usually the health plans are cheaper. And then you can think that the IRS wanted to kind of subsidize people that might have more of the high deductible plans. And part of that happens with this health savings account. So if people have very good health plans, they might not be using a high deductible health plan and therefore may not qualify for the health savings account. Or people might couple the high deductible plan with the health savings benefits as part of their health saving strategy in terms of paying for their healthcare. So in any case, you have to have a high deductible health plan without other health coverage, not being enrolled in Medicare and not being claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return. You can take advantage of these benefits. So the maximum contribution limits for HSAs in 2023 are $3,850 for individuals with self-only HDHP coverage and 7,750 for those with family HDHP coverage. So now when you think of the coverage, the question is, is it for an individual or is it for a family? So if you are 55 or older by the end of the tax year, you are eligible for an additional catch-up contribution of $1,000. Contributions to your HSA can be deducted on your tax return, even if you don't itemize deductions. So that of course is a big benefit. Notice when they tried to simplify the tax code a few years ago, they removed a lot of the itemized deductions because you would think those would benefit more wealthy individuals who are more likely to be taking the itemized deductions. But that also reduced a lot of the things, a lot of the power that the government had to nudge our behavior through tax incentives. So it's likely that you're gonna see other things leak out into other parts of the tax return as the IRS tries to again flex their influence over our behavior with the primary tool that they have at their disposal, the tax code. So these contributions can either be made by you directly or through employer contributions. Importantly, employer contributions are excluded from your gross income, thereby reducing your taxable income. So in other words, it's similar to an IRA or a 401K situation. If you have a 401K and your employer is taking care of the contribution to the 401K, it will be reported on your W-2 by not being included in box one already and it will already be taken care of for tax data input. But if it's not handled through the employer and you have a high deductible plan, then it's similar to an IRA situation where you have this above the line deduction or adjustment to income where you have to manually reduce it because it's not gonna be already taken out of income with the W-2 form by the employer. So to report HSA contributions and calculate the HSA deduction, form 8889 is used. This form also addresses any excess contributions and distributions related to HSAs. It's critical to accurately report all contributions, including those made by employers and any after-tax contributions you made to avoid any tax complications. IRS publication 969 and the instructions for form 8889 are comprehensive resources for understanding HSAs and their tax implications, which you can find on the IRS website. All right, let's take a look at line 13, the line-by-line instructions, health savings account, HSA deduction. You may be able to take this deduction if contributions other than employer contributions, rollovers and qualified HSA funding distributions from an IRA are made to your HSA for 2023. So you can see form 8889 for more detailed information if you wanna dive into some more research.