Updated October 18, 2026. Quick answer: Line 3 is your HSA contribution limit for 2025, based on your type of HDHP coverage and the months you were an eligible individual. Line 4 is Archer MSA money from Form 8853. Line 5 subtracts line 4 from line 3 and cannot go below zero. If your eligibility changed during the year, the Line 3 Limitation Chart and Worksheet in the instructions does the work.
IRS worksheets read line by line: Form 8889 Line 3 Limitation Worksheet.
What lines 3, 4 and 5 ask for
The form’s line 3 begins “If you were under age 55 at the end of 2025 and, on the first day of every month during 2025, you were, or were considered, an eligible individual with the same coverage, enter” the amount it prints, and then says “All others, see the instructions for the amount to enter”. Line 4 reads “Enter the amount you and your employer contributed to your Archer MSAs for 2025 from Form 8853, lines 1 and 2.” Line 5 reads “Subtract line 4 from line 3. If zero or less, enter -0-”.
Line 3: the six rules
The instructions open with “When figuring the amount to enter on line 3, apply the following rules.” Rule 1 is “Use the family coverage amount if you or your spouse had an HDHP with family coverage. Disregard any plan with selfonly coverage.” Rule 2 is “If the lastmonth rule (see Lastmonth rule, earlier) applies, you are considered an eligible individual for the entire year.”
Rule 3 is the plain case: “If you were, or were considered, an eligible individual for the entire year and you did not change your type of coverage, enter $4,300 for a selfonly HDHP or $8,550 for a family HDHP on line 3.”
Rule 4 covers a change of coverage type during the year. It says to enter the greater of two amounts, and adds “If you had family coverage on the first day of the last month, you do not need to use the worksheet; enter $8,550 on line 3.” Rule 5 is “If you were not an eligible individual on the first day of the last month of your tax year, use the Line 3 Limitation Chart and Worksheet (in these instructions) to determine the amount to enter on line 3.”
Rule 6 handles age: “If, at the end of 2025, you were age 55 or older and unmarried or married with selfonly HDHP coverage for the entire year, you can increase the amount determined in (3) or (4) by $1,000 (the additional contribution amount).” For married filers with family coverage the instructions note “If you are married and had family coverage at any time during the year, the additional contribution amount is figured on line 7 and is not included on line 3.” That is the subject of the Form 8889 lines 6, 7 and 8 page.
The Line 3 Limitation Chart and Worksheet
The chart and worksheet sit inside the Line 3 section of the instructions and are filled in month by month. Use the chart in your own copy of the instructions rather than a number from this page. The instructions add a tip: “your eligibility and coverage did not change from one month to the next, enter the same number you entered for the previous month.” For more detail the instructions say “See Pub. 969 for more information.” The limits for later years are tracked on the 2027 HSA limits page and the 2026 HSA limits page.
Where the number comes from (lines 4 and 5)
Line 4 comes from your Form 8853. The instructions have no separate paragraph headed Line 4 or Line 5, so the form’s own wording carries the rule. The instructions do say elsewhere “Your maximum contribution is reduced by any employer contributions to your HSA, any contributions made to your Archer MSA, and any qualified HSA funding distributions.” Line 5 is the subtraction the form describes. Here is a computed illustration, not an IRS example: suppose line 3 is $3,000 and line 4 is $400. Line 5 would then be $3,000 minus $400 for a computed result of $2,600. If line 4 were larger than line 3, the form says to enter zero.
Where it goes next
Line 5 feeds line 6, which the form words as “Enter the amount from line 5.” Line 6 and the rest of the limit are on the Form 8889 lines 6, 7 and 8 page. The deduction that results appears on Form 1040 through Schedule 1, and the overall picture is on the Form 8889 page.
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2025 Form 8889 and its 2025 instructions, the current files irs.gov served on 2026-10-18. They are the files for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. The form says “Attach to Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR.” Check the tax year printed on the form you are filling in and use the line numbers on that year’s form, because a different year’s form can number or word its lines differently. The form itself is walked through on the Form 8889 page.
Common mistakes
- Using the self-only amount when your household had a family plan. Rule 1 says “Use the family coverage amount if you or your spouse had an HDHP with family coverage.”
- Entering a full-year amount when you were not eligible all year. Rule 5 says “use the Line 3 Limitation Chart and Worksheet (in these instructions) to determine the amount to enter on line 3.”
- Adding the age 55 amount on line 3 when you are married with family coverage. The instructions say “the additional contribution amount is figured on line 7 and is not included on line 3.”
Related: Form 8889, 2027 HSA limits, 2026 HSA limits, HSA catch-up for both spouses, and HSA priority order.
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Answer againSources
- Instructions for Form 8889, Health Savings Accounts (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8889.pdf
- Form 8889, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8889.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 18, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.