FSA Contribution Calculator

For 2026, the Health FSA cap is $3,400, and a Limited Purpose FSA uses the same cap. The Dependent Care FSA cap is $7,500 for single filers and married filing jointly, or $3,750 if married filing separately. Your employer can set a lower plan limit, so the payroll election screen is the binding cap for your plan.

Unused FSA money is generally forfeited unless the employer's plan provides permitted relief. A Health or Limited Purpose FSA may offer either a limited carryover or a grace period, but not both for the same plan year. A Dependent Care FSA does not use the health-FSA carryover, but a plan may provide a grace period. Check the plan document for the exact deadline, eligible expenses, and amount.

If you qualify for an HSA (you must be enrolled in a qualifying High-Deductible Health Plan with no disqualifying coverage), the HSA almost always wins on long-term math. HSA money rolls over forever, you own the account when you change jobs, you can invest the balance, and it gets a triple tax advantage (pretax in, tax-free growth, tax-free out for qualified medical). An FSA gets the pretax payroll deduction but has none of those other features: the cap is lower, it is locked to your employer, it does not invest, and unused balances are mostly forfeited each year. The FSA is most useful when you cannot get an HSA, when you have predictable annual medical or dependent care expenses, or as a Limited Purpose FSA stacked on top of an HSA for dental and vision.

A Dependent Care FSA (DC-FSA) reimburses qualifying work-related childcare and dependent care expenses up to $7,500 per household per year in 2026, or $3,750 if married filing separately. The cap is per tax return, not per employee. Eligible expenses include daycare, preschool, after-school care, summer day camp, in-home care for a child under age 13, and care for a spouse or relative who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care. Both spouses must be working, looking for work, or full-time students. Overnight camp, schooling for kindergarten or above, and care provided by another dependent or by the child's parent do not qualify. Compare your projected savings to the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit; for lower incomes the credit can be the better choice.

A Limited Purpose FSA (LPFSA) is a narrowly scoped Health FSA that only reimburses dental and vision expenses. The 2026 cap matches the Health FSA at $3,400. The point of an LPFSA is HSA compatibility: enrolling in a general-purpose Health FSA disqualifies you from contributing to an HSA, but an LPFSA does not, because dental and vision are outside the scope of the HDHP deductible. The pattern that maximizes pretax dollars is: fund the HSA for everything (medical, dental, vision, future retirement), then layer an LPFSA on top only if you have predictable dental or vision spending you would rather pay with a separate pretax bucket and preserve the HSA for investing.