Photo: Dan Macy
The IRS has just given you a hand in better enabling your employees to establish health savings accounts (HSAs). The IRS on Aug. 30 issued Announcement 2011-59, which includes a list of entities the IRS has approved to serve as nonbank trustees and custodians of HSAs.
Under Code Section 223, which sets the rules for HSAs, individuals cannot establish HSAs through their employers. Rather, they must do so through a bank, an insurance company, or a nonbank trustee or custodian the IRS has approved to perform that function.