How do I defer my FHSA deduction?

The First Home Savings Account (FHSA) is a savings account for people who want to buy their first home. You can save money for the down payment and make money from it, without paying taxes.

You can contribute up to $8,000 (to a lifetime maximum of $40,000) and claim a deduction, on line 20805 of your Federal income tax and benefit return. The allowable deduction is calculated on Schedule 15.

Alternate deduction claims

You have the option to claim less than the maximum amount for the current year and carry it forward for a future year. This could be relevant if you anticipate an increase in income in the coming year and want to lower it to avoid being placed in a higher tax bracket.

In TurboTax Online, you can choose this option, or take no deduction and keep the whole amount.

In TurboTax Desktop, you can choose this option. However, if you want to take no deduction and keep the whole amount, you'll need to do some extra steps. 

Claiming no deduction in TurboTax Desktop

If you wish to claim no deduction for your 2024 FHSA contributions and carry the entire amount forward to next year, you can override the calculated field at line 43 of Schedule 15.

Follow these steps:

1. Select Forms on the toolbar
   • If you're in Forms mode, press CTRL+F to open the Form Search, then enter S15 or Schedule 15 and open the form.
2. Scroll down to Line 43 and select it.
3. Press F2 to initiate the override.  
4. Select Yes.
5. Enter $0 in the field. The text will be red to indicate the field is overridden.
6. The full amount available for deduction should now show up at Line 44 to be carried forward to next year.