W-2s now have health benefit reporting.

[AZ-Tax]

I just recieved a W-2 with a "12b-W" code which I believe generated form pre filled 8889-S pertaining to "employer contribution" and form 5329-S also pre filled which mandates the HSA value as of 12/31/2010. Is this the only code on the W-2 that will appear in 12b regarding health benefits that will generate both these forms and if not, what additional codes will generate these forms?

[joanmcq]

employer HSA contributions have always been reported on the W-2. Required info for the 8889 as you see.

[AZ-Tax]

Interesting that my clients 09 W-2 never reported it

employer HSA contributions have always been reported on the W-2. Required info for the 8889 as you see.

And my client is still with the same employer. Joan, on your website you list " W-2s now have health benefit reporting. Your 2011 W-2 will contain the value of health insurance benefits.While not yet taxable, the government wants to keep track of these values as part of the Health Care Reform Act"

Something seems odd here for I dont recall seeing any of my 09 clients W-2's who have an HSA thru their Employer being disclosed on their 09 W-2.

[Nashville]

Two Different Issues

AZ, two different issues.

One is the treatment of HSAs and has for some time been reflected on the W-2.

The other is an information item not yet required until 2011. At end of year the Healthcare Act will now require W-2 disclosure of the amount of health insurance provided by the employer.

[Burke]

Something seems odd here for I dont recall seeing any of my 09 clients W-2's who have an HSA thru their Employer being disclosed on their 09 W-2.

I am not sure all employers were aware of this reporting requirement last year. See our other thread for application issues in getting the info to flow to 1040 for Line 25 deduction.

[joanmcq]

I've had them for years, at least for the few clients I have that have HSAs. Since they are not recognized in CA, its not quite as good a benefit. Either the employer didn't make contributions (they are not required to, after all, just like 401(k) matches), or they didn't know to report them correctly.

As Nashville said, the new reporting requirements for the value of health care benefits is a completely different issue.

[FEDUKE404]

Nothing new here

I've had several clients who in recent years have had a "Code W" in Box 12 of their respective Form W2.

[Burke]

So have I, but they have all been large, usually national, C-corps. The smaller businesses, usually S-Corps, are the ones who have just caught up to this reporting issue.