The IRS has released Forms 5498-SA and 1099-SA for the 2018 tax year, along with their combined instructions. (The 2018 General Instructions for Certain Information Returns, which relate to these and certain other information returns, have not yet been released.) Form 5498-SA is used by trustees and custodians of HSAs, Archer MSAs, and Medicare Advantage MSAs to report contributions to (and the fair market value of) these accounts; Form 1099-SA is used to report distributions from these accounts.

The 2018 versions of these forms do not differ significantly from their 2017 counterparts. Filing and delivery deadlines have been updated, and a few other minor changes have been made. The identification numbers used by both forms are now uniformly referred to as “TINs” (taxpayer identification numbers), and both forms now define that acronym and explain that it could be a Social Security number (SSN), individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), adoption taxpayer identification number (ATIN), or employer identification number (EIN). The instructions for Form 1099-SA have also been revised to assure recipients that their full TIN has been reported to the IRS, even if the form shows only the last four digits.

Comment: These 2018 forms should not be used until 2019, when reporting for the 2018 tax year is due. Those preparing forms with truncated identification numbers should be careful to truncate only the TIN of the “participant” (on Form 5498-SA) and the “recipient” (on Form 1099-SA). The trustee’s TIN (on Form 5498-SA) and the payer’s TIN (on Form 1099-SA) cannot be truncated. These forms provide useful information to account holders, who have reporting obligations of their own. Generally, HSA account holders report their contributions and distributions on Form 8889, while Archer MSA and Medicare Advantage MSA account holders report on Form 8853.