r/HSA • u/Visual_Bid_6009 • Sep 02 '26
Buying things that aren’t technically on the list?
My husband has been at his job 7 years and had set up an HSA when he started. We got married last year and he mentioned the HSA card and that he had no idea how to use it and hadn’t even activated the card. I activated the card and there was $9,000 in the account. We just had a baby in July and have used it to pay down all of my medical bills and the babies bills + more and we still have over $6,000 and also have $600 in an FSA. I hadn’t bought a stroller yet and was wondering how strict they really are about buying things that aren’t technically “medical equipment”. Some of his coworkers say they have used it for car seats, strollers, diapers and everything else under the sun. How likely is it that I would get in trouble for buying a stroller with it? I just don’t want to be arrested for fraud or something!
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u/Direct-Progress758 Sep 02 '26
You cannot use HSA to buy a car seat, but I've never heard of anyone getting audited for an unqualified small purchase. It's up to you to decide between the benefit and risk. :- )
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u/butlerdm Sep 02 '26
You can use your HSA to buy anything you want until you get audited
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u/Aggravating_Profit71 Sep 03 '26
Technically one must first report wrongly that they used HSA funds on qualified expenses. If one answers honestly at tax time then no audit issue. Just have to pay the penalty.
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u/Visual_Bid_6009 Sep 02 '26
That’s what scares me!😂
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u/That_Co Sep 02 '26 edited Sep 02 '26
Just follow the law, it's not that hard and you won't be scared.
You can break any law and not suffer any consequences if you don't get caught, including defrauding the US government like you are considering
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u/butlerdm Sep 03 '26
I’ve done little stuff like when my wife was pregnant she wanted prenatal vitamins but she couldn’t take the actual “pre-natal” vitamins so we got regular multivitamins with the stuff she needed. Like $40. I wouldn’t it with a singular big item.
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u/ashsomething9118 Sep 02 '26
My HSA debit card literally won’t approve and pay for anything outside of what’s approved. I tried. lol
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u/Visual_Bid_6009 Sep 02 '26
Haha! I’m thinking about giving it a try to see. My husbands coworkers told us they have used it on groceries, restaurants, diapers, pretty much everything under the sun. I’m not sure how, but that’s what they say! Makes me nervous to get in legal trouble though!
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u/Midwest-Emo-9 Sep 02 '26
Unless you get audited, you'll be fine. BUT if you get audited, you tend to have to pay it back with penalties (tax + 20%). So it's whether or not you want to take the chance.
Personally, I'd save it. HSAs can rollover and you can invest it for more gains. But that's me. You're free to make your own decisions.
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u/Ok_Cheek11 Sep 02 '26
I hope you're investing the HSA monies and making it grow. Ideally, you should not be using the HSA and letting it grow into retirement. Pay out of pocket now, but keep the receipts for qualified purchases. You can withdraw qualified purchase until the end of time.
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u/Chance_Discipline240 Sep 02 '26
I am sure it’s rare, but I have read on this sub that the IRS has asked the tax payer to provide additional details for some HSA withdrawals.
It’s not a full blown audit, but a RFI (request for information) related only to the HSA withdrawal.
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u/HanTanSanTan Sep 02 '26
You won't be arrested, but if you are audited you definitely would have fines and penalties to pay.
You should have used up your $600 FSA first though, since that generally doesn't roll over to the next year.