Comments on: How FSA Plan Account Contributions Can Save You Thousands

By: Flexible Spending Account Changes on the Way

Flexible Spending Account Changes on the Way — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:30:47 +0000

[...] Spending Accounts, or FSAs, are an excellent way to pay for healthcare expenses using pre-tax money. If you take full [...]

By: Casey

Casey — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:01:46 +0000

I was unemployed and incurred an eligible FSA expense in Feb. 09… I started with a my new job in March 09 and opened and set up contributions to my FSA … Can I get reimbursed for my Feb. expense?

By: BadBoysDriveAudi

BadBoysDriveAudi — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:04:44 +0000

Just a thought on the eligible/excluded items lists: you list “insurance premiums” and “weight-loss program” under both, which makes things slightly confusing.

By: Darwin

Darwin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:47:00 +0000

Hmm. good question I’ve considered myself. I’d probably check with your accountant, not quite sure.

By: bob

bob — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:06:09 +0000

If I have unusual medical expenses in 2009, and I received the bill in December, can I pay it in January, and count it as a 2010 expense?

The procedure was in November 2009. Prior to the procedure, I had already spent the amount that I had contributed to my FSA. So I’d like to make it a 2010 expense.

By: Darwin

Darwin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:34:26 +0000

Hi Tim and Rob,
If you’re unsure I’d double check with your tax professional. My unqualified interpretation of current regs = my opinion, is that for

-Tim, the FSA treatment should be fungible; i.e. whatever the family spends on eligible expenses should be deductible equivalent to the aggregate limit of both spouses as long as they’re filing jointly.

-Rob, I’ve never found an IRS rule that actually references cash back rewards and there are some supporting logical conclusions, but I may be wrong. When you sign up for a card, you’re not asked to complete any sort of IRS form or receive a 1099 or Form-MISC or whatever at the end of the year, which I do for all other forms of income, including affiliate payments for my blogs. There is no year-end statement highlighting what the annual cash back payment was; I’d think if it were taxable, the IRS would need something to audit like an annual statement. My personal opinion is that I don’t view this as “income” but rather a rebate which is not taxable. Like I said, the IRS is clear as mud on this and I’ve never heard of anyone actually paying taxes on rewards, but for the heck of it, this year around I’ll probably just bounce it off my accountant.

By: rob

rob — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:40:10 +0000

You state “I rely on cash-back credit cards for as many expenses as I can and NEVER carry a balance (that’s the catch!). But, by doing so, we get back hundreds of dollars per year in tax-free income for doing nothing but carrying less cash around and exercising discipline. ” I thought the cash from cash-back cards WAS taxable as opposed to airline miles cards .

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:17:25 +0000

If two spouses have FSA’s at their respective places of employment, can they submit expenses to each other’s account? For example, if they both set aside $4,000, can they submit expenses that total $8,000 but are distributed as $6,000 for one spouse and $2,000 for the other.

By: Money Hacks Carnival, Staying Cool Edition | The Personal Finance Playbook

Money Hacks Carnival, Staying Cool Edition | The Personal Finance Playbook — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:44:05 +0000

[...] presents Flexible Spending Account: Rules, Eligibility and Savings Explanation | Darwin’s Finance posted at Darwin’s [...]

By: How FSA Plan Account Contributions Can Save You Thousands

How FSA Plan Account Contributions Can Save You Thousands — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:14:35 +0000

[...] this article on FSA or Flexible spending accounts. Darwin’s Finance posted the article “How FSA Plan Account Contributions Can Save You Thousands“. It is a fairly well written article and is fairly in depth. I prefer HSA’s or Health [...]