Lost money on FSA

[dfinch]

What is the name of your state? NC
We underclaimed our FSA money by about $770 because we had incorrectly remembered the figure (we thought we had set aside $500 but had actually paid in $1300). We claimed our money on the last day by fax and received about $530 because we submitted receipts of payment that totaled about $530. (this extra $30 alerted us to our error). However, we did provide a bill in the amount of $1200 with the paperwork but of course we did not fill in the claim form for this amount.

The FSA company says that because we did not fill in and submit their claim form by the set date (Mar 31, 2005) we have to lose this money.

Is there any way we can recover any or all of our $770?

Regards
DF

 

[Beth3]

Is there any way we can recover any or all of our $770? Sorry, no. The federal tax laws that govern 125B plans (FSA's) make it quite clear that participants must submit all eligible expenses within 90 days of the end of the Plan year. There are no loopholes. If you didn't list the expense on the claim form indicating you were requesting reimbursement, then you're out of luck.

P.S. Every FSA administrator I've worked with sends regular statements to participants, usually monthly. The statements would show how much your planned deferral for the year was.

 

[pattytx]

Nope. That's the risk you take to get the benefit of the contributions being pre-tax.

 

[dfinch]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Unfortunately as I suspected.

DF