My employer’s HDHP also covers my domestic partner. Can I contribute up to the family limit to an HSA? Can my domestic partner contribute to an HSA?

Provided you are HSA-eligible for the entire calendar year, you can contribute up to the applicable IRS annual family HSA contribution limit ($8,300 for 2024, $7,750 for 2023) to an HSA. If you are 55 or older at year-end, you can also contribute an additional $1,000 catch-up contribution. Your domestic partner, if HSA-eligible, can also contribute the family maximum (and, if applicable, a catch-up contribution) to their own HSA.

To review, to be eligible to make (or receive) HSA contributions, an individual must:

• Be covered by a qualified HDHP.
• Not have other “impermissible coverage” (i.e., coverage that provides medical benefits before the HDHP statutory minimum deductible is met, with limited exceptions — e.g., preventive care).
• Not be enrolled in Medicare.
• Not be claimed (or eligible to be claimed) as a dependent on someone else's tax return.

Generally, an individual’s contribution limit is based upon their months of eligibility and applicable coverage tier (e.g., single or family; family for this purpose is coverage other than single).

So, if you are an HSA-eligible employee with family HDHP coverage for the entire calendar year, you can make or receive HSA contributions up to the family contribution limit (regardless of the HSA-eligible status of your domestic partner or any other covered family members).

Additionally, your covered domestic partner, if HSA-eligible, can establish their own HSA and can also make or receive HSA contributions into that separate HSA up to the family contribution limit. Note that if your family tier HDHP also covered an HSA-eligible adult child (i.e., a child who was no longer eligible to be claimed as a tax dependent), the adult child could also contribute up to the family limit to an HSA.

By contrast, if an employee’s family tier HDHP covered a spouse and any child(ren) who are the employee’s tax dependents, these individuals could not collectively contribute more than the family HSA contribution limit, although they could have separate HSA accounts. However, an employee and spouse, if eligible, could each contribute the additional $1,000 catch-up contribution to their own HSA.

HSA-eligible individuals, including domestic partners, who cannot make contributions through an employer’s cafeteria plan can generally contribute post-tax and take a deduction on their personal income tax returns. As a reminder, the deadline to make or receive HSA contributions is the tax filing deadline for the year (for 2023 HSA contributions, generally, April 15, 2024). This is also the deadline for withdrawing any excess contributions (i.e., contributions that exceed an individual’s applicable maximum limit) for 2023 to avoid a penalty tax.

For specific tax advice and guidance, individuals should always consult with a professional tax advisor or legal counsel.