Internal Revenue Service United States Department of the Treasury
Level Basic Advanced Military International

Adjustments to Income Workout

Distributions from an HSA

Medical Expenses

Qualified medical expenses are those incurred by the following persons:

  1. The taxpayer and spouse
  2. All dependents claimed on the tax return
  3. Any other person who could have been claimed as a dependent on the taxpayer's return except that:
    1. The person filed a joint return
    2. The person had gross income of the exemption amount or more, or
    3. The taxpayer or spouse (if filing jointly) could be claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return
Tip

A child of parents who are divorced, separated, or living apart for the last six months of the calendar year is treated as the dependent of both parents (for medical expenses) whether or not the custodial parent releases the claim to the child's dependency.

Tip

Even taxpayers who have a self-only HDHP may use the money in their HSA to pay the unreimbursed medical expenses for their spouse or other family members (as described above).

Caution

Taxpayers cannot deduct qualified medical expenses as an itemized deduction on Form 1040, Schedule A, that are equal to the tax-free distribution from their HSAs. Since the medical expenses have been paid from HSA funds, the taxpayers cannot include the same expenses on Schedule A.