How Much to Contribute to an HSA
The IRS sets an annual maximum you can contribute to an HSA. Learn this year's limits, how much to elect per paycheck, and what contributions count.
11 minute read
Short answer
For 2026, you can contribute up to $4,400 if you have self-only coverage, or $8,750 if you have family coverage. If you're age 55 or older, you can add another $1,000 as a catch-up contribution. How much you should actually contribute depends on your expenses.
Contributions to an HSA reduce your taxable income and build a reserve that grows tax-free and never expires. Contributions can come from you, your employer, or both. If you contribute too much, the IRS charges a 6% excise tax per year until you correct it. The simplest approach is to contribute what you expect to spend in the next year, plus extra to save for later healthcare costs.
This Year's Contribution Limits
The annual contribution limit depends on the type of health coverage you have on the first day of the last month of the year. These limits are set by the IRS and change annually.
Coverage Type | 2026 Limit | 2025 Limit | Catch-up (55+) |
|---|---|---|---|
Self-only | $4,400 | $4,300 | +$1,000 |
Family | $8,750 | $8,550 | +$1,000 |
If you turn 55 during the year, you're eligible for the catch-up contribution starting the month you turn 55. The IRS states it plainly: "your contribution limit is increased by $1,000" for an eligible individual age 55 or older, and that add-on is per year, not per paycheck. When you turn 65 and enroll in Medicare, your HSA contribution limit becomes zero from that point forward.
Who Can Have an HSA
To contribute to an HSA at all, you must be enrolled in an HSA-qualified high deductible health plan (HDHP). Your plan must meet IRS deductible and out-of-pocket minimums. If you switch to a non-qualifying plan mid-year, your contribution limit for that year is reduced.
What Counts Toward Your Limit and What Doesn't
Your annual contribution limit is a ceiling on the combined total of all HSA contributions in a single tax year, regardless of source. This includes money you contribute yourself, money your employer deposits, and contributions from your spouse if you file jointly. The limit does not include earnings your existing balance generates or certain types of transfers.
Contributions that count toward your limit
Your own contributions from your paycheck, checking account, or bank transfer.
Employer contributions made directly to your HSA (this is very common).
Spouse contributions if you're married filing jointly and have family coverage.
SEP-HSA and SIMPLE-HSA contributions if you're self-employed or a small business owner.
The key point is that contributions from all sources add up. If your employer contributes $3,000 and you contribute $2,000, the total is $5,000 against your annual limit. Many people overlook employer contributions when calculating how much they can contribute themselves, which is a common reason for overcontribution.
Contributions that do not count
Rollovers from another HSA or Archer MSA (these have no annual limit at all).
Qualified HSA funding distributions (one per lifetime, a special rule that lets you fund an HSA in bulk from an IRA).
Investment earnings and growth inside the HSA account (dividends, interest, capital gains).
Reimbursements you receive if you withdraw too much (the correction itself doesn't count).
Rollovers are particularly important for people changing jobs or switching HSA providers. You can move your entire HSA balance from one account to another without it counting as a new contribution or triggering the annual limit.
Over-Contribution: What Happens and How to Fix It
An excess contribution occurs when your HSA contributions exceed your annual limit in a single tax year. This can happen in several ways. You might contribute to multiple HSAs at once without realizing the limits are shared, miss an employer contribution in your own calculation, contribute after you enroll in Medicare, or change coverage mid-year without adjusting your limit accordingly.
The 6% excise tax penalty
The rule is stated plainly in the instructions: "generally, you must pay a 6% excise tax on excess contributions" for each year the excess remains uncorrected. This penalty compounds annually until you withdraw the overage. For example, if you contributed $500 too much, the IRS charges 6% of $500 ($30) in the year it was contributed, and another 6% the following year, and so on until corrected. It's not a one-time fee. It's a recurring penalty.
How to correct an overcontribution
Identify the overcontribution amount and determine which tax year it occurred in.
Contact your HSA trustee (the bank or financial institution that holds your HSA) and request a detailed statement showing the excess and any investment earnings it generated.
Request a correction distribution: the trustee will calculate the excess contribution plus the pro-rata earnings and issue a withdrawal.
Withdraw the excess plus its earnings before that deadline. Per the Form 8889 instructions, the deadline is the due date, including extensions, of your tax return for that year, which for most filers is April 15 of the following year.
Report the correction on Form 8889 when you file your tax return, or file an amended return (Form 1040-X) if you discover the error after filing.
The excess contribution itself comes out of your HSA tax-free. However, the earnings on that excess are treated as a non-qualified distribution: they're subject to regular income tax plus a 20% additional tax penalty. Your HSA trustee will report this split on your tax documents. It's why correcting overcontributions as soon as you discover them is important. The longer the money sits, the more earnings accumulate and the more penalty you'll owe.
How Much to Elect Per Paycheck
If your employer offers payroll deductions for HSA contributions, you'll elect an annual amount during open enrollment. Your employer then divides that amount evenly across your paychecks and sends each portion to your HSA account. The key constraint is that your payroll contributions plus any employer contributions cannot exceed your annual limit. Many employers make the calculation easy by telling you how much they'll contribute, so you know exactly how much you can contribute yourself.
A worked example
Suppose you have family HDHP coverage, your annual limit is $8,750, and your employer contributes $2,000 per year. You want to know how much to elect per paycheck.
Step 1: Calculate your available budget. Annual limit is $8,750. Employer contributes $2,000. Your share: $8,750 minus $2,000 equals $6,550 per year.
Step 2: Divide by paycheck frequency. If you get paid biweekly, that's 26 paychecks per year. $6,550 divided by 26 equals approximately $252 per paycheck.
Step 3: You elect $252 per paycheck. Your employer deducts this from each paycheck, plus their $2,000 contribution happens once per year, totaling exactly $8,750.
You don't have to max out the limit. If you only expect to spend $3,000 on healthcare this year plus want to save $2,000, you could elect $5,000 total (less the employer contribution). Or you could contribute more and build a reserve for future years, knowing the balance rolls over indefinitely.
Alternative: contributing outside payroll
You don't have to use payroll deductions. You can contribute to your HSA directly from your bank account anytime during the year, and you have until April 15 of the following year to make contributions for the previous tax year. This is useful if you discover you have room to contribute more after the year starts, or if you want to contribute a lump sum from a bonus or tax refund. Direct contributions and payroll contributions are taxed the same way (both are pre-tax), so there's no financial advantage to either method.
Related Rules and Deadlines
Contribution deadline
Contributions for a given tax year can be made anytime during that year or until April 15 of the following year (your tax filing deadline, or October 15 if you file an extension). Payroll contributions have to come out of your paychecks during the same calendar year. You can't add payroll deductions for a year that already ended. Direct bank contributions work differently: you can make those for the previous tax year any time until April 15, which is useful if you discover you have room to contribute more after the year is over.
Your balance carries over
FSAs work on a use-it-or-lose-it basis: unspent FSA balances disappear at year end. An HSA works on a different principle entirely. The IRS confirms the rollover directly: "amounts that remain at the end of the year are generally carried over to the next year". Your HSA balance carries over automatically every year with no limit, and it stays yours to spend today, next year, or decades from now. This makes an HSA a long-term savings vehicle for healthcare costs in retirement, not just a this-year budget. You can move your balance to a new HSA provider if you change jobs, and that move doesn't count against your annual contribution limit.
Employer contributions count against your limit
Your employer's contributions to your HSA are not taxed as income to you (they're pre-tax contributions), but they absolutely count toward your annual contribution limit. The IRS instructions are direct on this: "you must reduce the amount you or any other person can contribute to your HSA by the amount of any contributions made by your employer" that are excludable from your income. If your employer contributes $3,000 and your limit is $4,400, you can only contribute $1,300 more yourself. Your HSA trustee will track contributions from all sources and prevent you from exceeding the limit, but it's your responsibility to account for the employer's contribution when you decide how much to contribute yourself.
Changing coverage mid-year
If you switch from self-only to family HDHP coverage (or family to self-only) during the year, your annual contribution limit is prorated based on the months you had each coverage type. The IRS uses a specific calculation: your limit is the greater of the monthly limits for each type you had during the year, applied proportionally to the months you had coverage. For example, say you had self-only coverage (limit $4,400, or about $367 a month) for six months. Then you switched to family coverage ($8,750, or about $729 a month) for the other six months. Your annual limit would land somewhere between those two figures, not at either one alone. The calculation is complex, so ask your employer's benefits team or HSA trustee to compute your actual limit if this happens to you.
Getting it reimbursed with Burst
When the answer is 'with a letter', this is the letter. Request it from Burst in about two minutes, a licensed clinician reviews it, and it's typically in your inbox within 24 hours. $35 once. Burst then files the reimbursement claim with your FSA, HSA or HRA administrator, and the administrator pays you out of your account by deposit or check. If no letter is issued you pay nothing, and if the claim is denied you get the $35 back. One timing rule: the letter has to be dated on or before the purchase it covers, so request it first.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I put into my HSA per paycheck?
Divide the amount you want to contribute for the year by your number of pay periods, then subtract anything your employer already puts in. Most people land somewhere between $150 and $350 per paycheck, but the right number depends on your expected healthcare costs and savings goals, not a fixed rule.
Can my employer and I both contribute to the same HSA?
Yes. Combined contributions from you and your employer cannot exceed the annual limit. Your HSA trustee tracks contributions from both sources.
What if I contribute too much to my HSA?
Withdraw the excess and any earnings before April 15 of the following year. Report it on Form 8889. Without correction, the IRS charges a 6% excise tax per year on the excess.
Can I contribute to an HSA if I'm enrolled in Medicare?
No. Your contribution limit is zero from the month you enroll in Medicare. If you contributed before Medicare enrollment, those contributions are allowed. Ones made during Medicare enrollment are treated as excess.
What happens to my HSA if I change jobs?
Your HSA stays with you. You can roll it over to your new employer's HSA plan or keep it with your current provider. The balance and all accumulated funds remain yours.
Can I contribute per paycheck or as a lump sum?
Both are allowed. Payroll contributions come out automatically during the year. Lump-sum contributions can be made anytime before April 15 of the following year and have the same tax benefits.
Does an HSA contribution limit include spending?
No. The limit applies only to contributions. Once money is in your HSA, you can spend it all (or save it all) without a limit. With a letter, you can get reimbursed for eligible purchases and keep receipts for your records.
How do I know if my plan is HSA-qualified?
Your plan documents or benefits summary will state whether it's HSA-qualified. It must have an IRS-compliant deductible (minimum $1,700 self-only, $3,400 family for 2026) and out-of-pocket maximum. Ask your HR or benefits administrator if you're unsure.
Keep reading: What is an HSA?, How an HDHP pairs with an HSA, How to reimburse yourself from your HSA, HSA vs. FSA: what's the difference, and all guides on this topic.
Sources
IRS Publication 969, Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans (Contribution limit structure, the $1,000 catch-up, employer contributions counting toward the limit, the 6% excise tax on excess contributions, rollover / carryover, Medicare enrollment stopping contributions)
IRS Instructions for Form 8889, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) (How to report and correct an excess contribution, and the withdrawal deadline (due date, including extensions, of the tax return))
HealthCare.gov Glossary: Health Savings Account (HSA) (HSA eligibility requirements and HDHP pairing)
More in
