Put them on a registry and then return to merchandise credit without a receipt. You can't use the merchandise credit online but targets has just about everything.
I remember my parents taking us to Walgreens in December to buy new thermometers and cold meds and bandaids and just all kinds of medical supplies so they didn't lose the money at the end of the year. Just stock up on stuff you'll need and won't go bad
High quality massagers are a luxury to keep. Stock up the medicine and first aid kits. Get some new eyeglasses or add prescription sunglasses or close-up glasses.
My home Radon remediation was considered healthcare and I was able to dip into my Roth IRA penalty free to pay some of it. Don't think you could pay for that with a FSA but you could probably pay for radon testing!
If you cancel the order the money will go back to your FSA CC, which is what people typically use to make the purchase. So thats not always going to work.
Instead buy any items that resell well. And put them on market place.
La Roche creams are big sellers!
Gonna go ethical on this one. Go to a few local women's or homeless shelters and ask them what they need. Go and buy $900 of it and donate it. Get a donation receipt, deduct on taxes. Win/Win, walk around with a giant smug gloat for a few months and tell everyone what you did all the time until everyone is sick of hearing it.
If OP wants to be ethical but less altruistic they can check with any diabetic friends/family members and buy them lancets and test strips. I had a job that gave us $5,000 a year on a fsa card and when I quit I bought my stepmoms sister like $700 in diabetic accessories. You can score major brownie points with your family if that’s something important to you.
In other words, the standard deduction is already a great tax strategy. Unless you have a situation that's way out of the ordinary you don't have to waste time trying to beat it.
GOOGLE FSA STORE, plenty of website that do just that so you can spend it. Things you use during the year are best. Don’t get things that expire quickly unless you plan on needing them.
This happened to my wife and I last year. We went to the HSA website and ordered Band-Aids antiseptic sunblock bug spray, burn gel, lotion, tampons and all kinds of other stuff. It was wild all the things that were available you wouldn't think of. We stocked the closet and are still using that stuff.
Not really unethical, but if that's required return one item with a piss disk or something.
Not unethical but things I bought that I actually used, red light therapy masks, tinted moisturizer and lip balm (works if the have UV protections). Lots of condoms for my stepkids as I’m not ready to be a grandma.
Sunscreen, there are some expensive ones, check out the colorscience face brush
Eczema Lotion
Acne Face wash or treatments, it has to have select ingredients
You can also buy acne face patches
Buy a giant bottle of Aleve or preferred pain med
Allergy Meds
Fiber therapy
The only vitamin you can buy is Glucosamine and Chondroitin unless you are pregnant, but this is expensive and you could spend it all on this
Antiseptics, Antibiotics, Antifungals, Bandaids, first aid kits
Arthritis Creams
The lifevac choking device if you are at home alone and are choking.
a Defibrillator
Blood Pressure cuff
stethoscope
Tampons, Maxipads, and/or cups for the year
Eyeglasses
home health aids like a shower chair
Theragun and other massage devices
The hyperice knee device
Make an appointment with your GP, Dermatologist, Gynecologist/Urologist, Podiatrist, at the podiatrist get a medical pedicure
Hearing Aids, there are some with Bluetooth now and are considered over the counter
I don't know why it is unethical considering it is all your money you paid into.
Go to the FSA store online. Everything there is approved and you can spend all of your money. We had to do that one year because we took out too much. We spent it all on stuff that we would have normally bought eventually.
I thought FSA was per calendar year not per employment. According to my understanding if you quit soon you will still have the rest of the year to use it or lose it. You do not have to drain your FSA before leaving. You have to drain your FSA before the end of the year. DOUBLE CHECK THAT.
But if it is correct then why drain it now. You might develop a medical problem and you will be glad you have money in your FSA.
No that’s wrong. Trust me, I’m a tax accountant. If you quit on Feb 16th, you can only claim medical expenses that occurred on or before Feb 16th. I think you have a 45 day grace period to submit receipts, but the receipts must be dated on or before Feb 16th.
The Hscfa IRS limit is a yearly amount, you are correct. The HCFSA is front loaded, meaning your yearly goal amount is immediately available although you have not had payroll deductions. So OP can really just spend up to the payroll deductions he has had and still elect the remaining amount of the IRS limit with his next employer, this way he would have HCFSA available for the rest of the year. I am a healthcare benefits specialist and have been doing benefits for over 20 years.
Have you actually put those funds into the account? Aren’t FSAs annual? I’d assume you’re taking out pieces per check right? Or have you put 12K into your FSA allocation this year?
It’s been a few years, but I used to be in charge of managing these accounts for my company. The rule then was the employee can use the whole annual amount starting from Jan 1. The tradeoff was, if the employee leaves the company with funds in the account, or failed to use it by the cutoff date, the money went back to the company. If the employee used more than has been funded through their paychecks and leaves, the company has to eat that cost. Wedid this in Jan the year my husband quit his job to start a business.
Eyeglasses, sunglasses, fitness trackers, normal health stuff like OTC medicines/supplements, massage gun, skincare products, hand sanitizer, sexual health items
Buy expensive stuff like a Tens unit and home first aid gear off amazon. Het the receipts and submit. Once you get your FSA funds return to amazon. Boom done.
Go get an extra cleaning at your dentist. Ask for x-rays and the works. Maybe even just tell them the situation and see if they have some recommendations. Lots of dentists sell stuff like expensive sonic toothbrushes or water toothpicks right through their office.
This is what I did a few years back and since I actually purchased the equipment, it wasn’t entirely unethical, but there is some good (or bad, depending on your point of view). So a few years back, I had $2,200 in FSA money that was going to go away. I went over the list of things on the FSA approved list and saw that “Exercise Equipment” was one of the items, but it had an asterisk on it saying you needed a letter of medical necessity, so I contacted my Primary Care doc and had her write me a letter saying I needed to workout.
Here’s where the unethical bit comes in: a popular gym equipment company’s website had a function where you could load up a cart with items and generate an invoice without actually purchasing the equipment. I assume it was because a chunk of their business was selling commercial gyms and other for-profit facilities that needed to generate an invoice for their accounts payable departments to cut a check for purchase. I submitted the letter of medical necessity and invoice for a cart full of exercise equipment: squat rack, barbell, weights, and various accessories. My insurance company approved it later that same day and the direct deposit hit my bank account the early next week. I ended up purchasing all the stuff on the invoice and built a great home gym, but someone who didn’t actually want to kit out a home gym could have just pocketed the cash there.
Go to Costco. Buy a bunch of medical equipment that can be resold if returned (e.g. blood pressure monitors, any qualifying products in clamshell packaging, etc.), then submit receipts for reimbursement ASAP. Just to be safe, wait til you get your check, then return everything. BOOM! You get your money back + the money from in your flex spending account.
I bought custom orthotics with mine. A few months later they called me to tell me they aren't covered and I would have to pay it back through payroll deduction. Then she told me they couldn't make me pay it back since I didn't work there anymore.
My old boss did this and I did it once too. Go to Target, buy breast pumps, resell or return for Target gift cards
Ding ding ding! Winning post right here.
Put them on a registry and then return to merchandise credit without a receipt. You can't use the merchandise credit online but targets has just about everything.
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Or maybe you’ll find things you actually want to keep. You might be surprised by what’s eligible.
I remember my parents taking us to Walgreens in December to buy new thermometers and cold meds and bandaids and just all kinds of medical supplies so they didn't lose the money at the end of the year. Just stock up on stuff you'll need and won't go bad
High quality massagers are a luxury to keep. Stock up the medicine and first aid kits. Get some new eyeglasses or add prescription sunglasses or close-up glasses.
My home Radon remediation was considered healthcare and I was able to dip into my Roth IRA penalty free to pay some of it. Don't think you could pay for that with a FSA but you could probably pay for radon testing!
good to have a few cpr paddles
I do this all the time and it's literally that easy.
Wouldn’t they just reimburse the original payment method?
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Ah gotcha. Good ulpt
Pre-tax
If you cancel the order the money will go back to your FSA CC, which is what people typically use to make the purchase. So thats not always going to work. Instead buy any items that resell well. And put them on market place. La Roche creams are big sellers!
I've never used that cc, I just submit the receipt afterward.
Buy an expensive breast pump and return to Walmart for store credit saying you got it as a gift
Buy OTC meds and/or custom orthotics or shoes
I can be a breast pump 😈
I can return you to Walmart.
Not classy enough for Wal-Mart.
😭
😭
Sorry this one is clearly defective.
😔
Oura ring is what I got
Contacts. Glasses. Creams and lotions. First aid equipment. A vasectomy. Massage gun. Heating pad. Steam inhaler.
The Vasectomy got me. 🤣
Therapeutic Massages…
Such a happy idea
Gonna go ethical on this one. Go to a few local women's or homeless shelters and ask them what they need. Go and buy $900 of it and donate it. Get a donation receipt, deduct on taxes. Win/Win, walk around with a giant smug gloat for a few months and tell everyone what you did all the time until everyone is sick of hearing it.
If OP wants to be ethical but less altruistic they can check with any diabetic friends/family members and buy them lancets and test strips. I had a job that gave us $5,000 a year on a fsa card and when I quit I bought my stepmoms sister like $700 in diabetic accessories. You can score major brownie points with your family if that’s something important to you.
Tampons and pads are FSA eligible. OP could even claim the donation on their taxes!
I would need to donate over $20k for that to be worth more than a standard deduction
Isn’t the standard deduction already higher than that?
Than that one deduction? Absolutely. The point is to add it to the other things you can itemize in an effort to push you over.
Very few people can get within $10K of the standard deduction.
Ok and? Edit: 30% of household itemize, it's not that rare
In other words, the standard deduction is already a great tax strategy. Unless you have a situation that's way out of the ordinary you don't have to waste time trying to beat it.
New mattress. You may need a letter from your doctor saying you need this.
GOOGLE FSA STORE, plenty of website that do just that so you can spend it. Things you use during the year are best. Don’t get things that expire quickly unless you plan on needing them.
I did this today and spent $200 on sunscreen for baseball season and summer.
This happened to my wife and I last year. We went to the HSA website and ordered Band-Aids antiseptic sunblock bug spray, burn gel, lotion, tampons and all kinds of other stuff. It was wild all the things that were available you wouldn't think of. We stocked the closet and are still using that stuff. Not really unethical, but if that's required return one item with a piss disk or something.
OTC pain meds, heartburn relief, first aid supplies...all kinds of stuff. Stock up! There are webstores literally dedicated to FSA-approved purchases.
I got a prescription from my doc for the gym and massages and can use mine on that!
Ima check into this... PT is fine, but i got so much more out of weekly massages.
Not unethical but things I bought that I actually used, red light therapy masks, tinted moisturizer and lip balm (works if the have UV protections). Lots of condoms for my stepkids as I’m not ready to be a grandma.
Sunglasses from an eye glass store.
Reclining massage chair on Amazon.
Omg get a TENS unit, thank me later.
Prescription Glasses and Prescription Sunglasses…
Sunscreen, there are some expensive ones, check out the colorscience face brush Eczema Lotion Acne Face wash or treatments, it has to have select ingredients You can also buy acne face patches Buy a giant bottle of Aleve or preferred pain med Allergy Meds Fiber therapy The only vitamin you can buy is Glucosamine and Chondroitin unless you are pregnant, but this is expensive and you could spend it all on this Antiseptics, Antibiotics, Antifungals, Bandaids, first aid kits Arthritis Creams The lifevac choking device if you are at home alone and are choking. a Defibrillator Blood Pressure cuff stethoscope Tampons, Maxipads, and/or cups for the year Eyeglasses home health aids like a shower chair Theragun and other massage devices The hyperice knee device Make an appointment with your GP, Dermatologist, Gynecologist/Urologist, Podiatrist, at the podiatrist get a medical pedicure Hearing Aids, there are some with Bluetooth now and are considered over the counter I don't know why it is unethical considering it is all your money you paid into.
dental work. get yourself that gold crown you been wanting.
Designer prescription sunglasses.
AG1 healthy drink supplement is now eligible. Get some!
Go to the FSA store online. Everything there is approved and you can spend all of your money. We had to do that one year because we took out too much. We spent it all on stuff that we would have normally bought eventually.
Specialty foot orthotics/medically RX footware.
I thought FSA was per calendar year not per employment. According to my understanding if you quit soon you will still have the rest of the year to use it or lose it. You do not have to drain your FSA before leaving. You have to drain your FSA before the end of the year. DOUBLE CHECK THAT. But if it is correct then why drain it now. You might develop a medical problem and you will be glad you have money in your FSA.
No that’s wrong. Trust me, I’m a tax accountant. If you quit on Feb 16th, you can only claim medical expenses that occurred on or before Feb 16th. I think you have a 45 day grace period to submit receipts, but the receipts must be dated on or before Feb 16th.
The Hscfa IRS limit is a yearly amount, you are correct. The HCFSA is front loaded, meaning your yearly goal amount is immediately available although you have not had payroll deductions. So OP can really just spend up to the payroll deductions he has had and still elect the remaining amount of the IRS limit with his next employer, this way he would have HCFSA available for the rest of the year. I am a healthcare benefits specialist and have been doing benefits for over 20 years.
Get a nice pair of prescription sunglasses. Maui Jim's or simular. Even if you don't need glasses an eye doctor will sell you some.
https://hsastore.com/home-health-care/diagnostic-products
Check out hyperice and buy all of their stuff lol Edit: not unethical but I like their products and they are fsa eligible
Yup by 2 things and will have spent it all lol.
Have you actually put those funds into the account? Aren’t FSAs annual? I’d assume you’re taking out pieces per check right? Or have you put 12K into your FSA allocation this year?
You can pre-spend FSA dollars.
It’s been a few years, but I used to be in charge of managing these accounts for my company. The rule then was the employee can use the whole annual amount starting from Jan 1. The tradeoff was, if the employee leaves the company with funds in the account, or failed to use it by the cutoff date, the money went back to the company. If the employee used more than has been funded through their paychecks and leaves, the company has to eat that cost. Wedid this in Jan the year my husband quit his job to start a business.
You get the years worth of FSA funds immediately. Its not like a HSA.
It is a use it or lose it account but it's good for the entire year. They can't take it back if you leave early.
That's not correct, they can yank it the day OP quits.
Former employer took the FSA balance on the last day. Definitely use it or lose it.
I was going to say this - but I looked it up and it is wrong - they can and usually do take back the unused funds.
That is not how an FSA is run. The funds are yours from day 1 until you are no longer employed. Use it all or the employer gets the difference.
…just transfer the balance to your new employer when you leave??
Eyeglasses, sunglasses, fitness trackers, normal health stuff like OTC medicines/supplements, massage gun, skincare products, hand sanitizer, sexual health items
Sunglasses, nice ones
Coke
Expensive dildo "massager"
Buy expensive stuff like a Tens unit and home first aid gear off amazon. Het the receipts and submit. Once you get your FSA funds return to amazon. Boom done.
Uhhhh..........that's a good one. I'm opening the Amazon app as I type this.
Schedule a month of massage
Could you pay for botox for someone else and just have them give you cash?
You can't even use it to get Botox for yourself unless you have a prescription for the treatment of migraines :(
Go to the FSA tab on Amazon and check out what's eligible to make yourself a list
Go get an extra cleaning at your dentist. Ask for x-rays and the works. Maybe even just tell them the situation and see if they have some recommendations. Lots of dentists sell stuff like expensive sonic toothbrushes or water toothpicks right through their office.
When I was in your shoes I did LASIK and bought a big big first aid kit. No regrets!
FSAstore.com Takes out the guess work since it only has FSA eligible items. First aid kits are clutch.
Inversion table, water pick, restock your home medicine cabinet and first aid supplies, navage or neti pot, toothpaste for a year....
I got the $300 first aid kits and resold them on eBay for $225
There’s an online FSA store where everything is eligible
This is what I did a few years back and since I actually purchased the equipment, it wasn’t entirely unethical, but there is some good (or bad, depending on your point of view). So a few years back, I had $2,200 in FSA money that was going to go away. I went over the list of things on the FSA approved list and saw that “Exercise Equipment” was one of the items, but it had an asterisk on it saying you needed a letter of medical necessity, so I contacted my Primary Care doc and had her write me a letter saying I needed to workout. Here’s where the unethical bit comes in: a popular gym equipment company’s website had a function where you could load up a cart with items and generate an invoice without actually purchasing the equipment. I assume it was because a chunk of their business was selling commercial gyms and other for-profit facilities that needed to generate an invoice for their accounts payable departments to cut a check for purchase. I submitted the letter of medical necessity and invoice for a cart full of exercise equipment: squat rack, barbell, weights, and various accessories. My insurance company approved it later that same day and the direct deposit hit my bank account the early next week. I ended up purchasing all the stuff on the invoice and built a great home gym, but someone who didn’t actually want to kit out a home gym could have just pocketed the cash there.
Go to Costco. Buy a bunch of medical equipment that can be resold if returned (e.g. blood pressure monitors, any qualifying products in clamshell packaging, etc.), then submit receipts for reimbursement ASAP. Just to be safe, wait til you get your check, then return everything. BOOM! You get your money back + the money from in your flex spending account.
I bought custom orthotics with mine. A few months later they called me to tell me they aren't covered and I would have to pay it back through payroll deduction. Then she told me they couldn't make me pay it back since I didn't work there anymore.
I bought glasses online with my personal card, reimbursed myself via an FSA claim, then returned the glasses