Target's payment page lists "Healthcare cards, including HRA, FSA, and HSA" as accepted. Its FSA & HSA Shop says "1000s of items" are available over the counter with those cards. CVS Health bought Target's pharmacy business in 2015. Where Target has a pharmacy, it operates as a CVS Pharmacy.
Three different receipts can come out of one Target trip. A front-lane receipt, a CVS pharmacy receipt, or a Target.com order confirmation. Each proves an HSA expense a different way.
This post covers where the card works and what Target says qualifies. Then the hand sanitizer rule, and what each receipt shows.
Where the Card Works
As of September 2026, Target's own pages say:
| Where | HSA card | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Store checkout | Yes | "Healthcare cards, including HRA, FSA, and HSA" on the accepted-payments list |
| CVS Pharmacy inside Target | Yes | Prescriptions and OTC. The receipt is a CVS receipt |
| Target Optical | Checks confirmed | Target's page says FSA/HSA checks are taken at optical and pharmacy lanes |
| Target.com | Yes | FSA & HSA Shop with Drive Up, Order Pickup, and Same Day Delivery |
Store checkout
- HSA card
- Yes
- Notes
- "Healthcare cards, including HRA, FSA, and HSA" on the accepted-payments list
CVS Pharmacy inside Target
- HSA card
- Yes
- Notes
- Prescriptions and OTC. The receipt is a CVS receipt
Target Optical
- HSA card
- Checks confirmed
- Notes
- Target's page says FSA/HSA checks are taken at optical and pharmacy lanes
Target.com
- HSA card
- Yes
- Notes
- FSA & HSA Shop with Drive Up, Order Pickup, and Same Day Delivery
If the card is declined at any lane, the fallback is the same as every store. Pay with a regular card and keep the receipt. Reimburse yourself from the HSA later. There is no deadline on that.
What Target Says Qualifies
Target's FSA & HSA Shop names bandages, sunscreen, and hand sanitizer as examples. Its featured brands are up&up, Always, Nature Made, Vicks, Tylenol, and Ricola.
Target's page also says something worth reading twice. "Your health plan determines eligibility, but FSA & HSA shops are designed to align with IRS guidelines." The shop is a filter, not a ruling. Publication 502 is what the IRS goes by.
| Item | HSA eligible? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| up&up OTC medicine (pain, allergy, cold, antacid) | Yes | No prescription needed since the CARES Act in 2020 |
| Tylenol, Vicks, medicated Ricola drops | Yes | OTC medicine |
| Bandages, first aid, thermometers | Yes | Medical supplies |
| Always and other menstrual care products | Yes | Treated as medical care under IRC §223(d)(2)(A) |
| Hand sanitizer, masks, sanitizing wipes | Yes, with a condition | See the section below |
| Contact lens solution, reading glasses | Yes | Vision care |
| Prescriptions at the CVS Pharmacy | Yes | Always qualified |
| Nature Made vitamins | No | Pub 502 excludes supplements without a practitioner's recommendation for a diagnosed condition |
| Toothpaste, floss, deodorant | No | Personal-use items |
| Everything else in the cart | No | Not medical care |
up&up OTC medicine (pain, allergy, cold, antacid)
- HSA eligible?
- Yes
- Why
- No prescription needed since the CARES Act in 2020
Tylenol, Vicks, medicated Ricola drops
- HSA eligible?
- Yes
- Why
- OTC medicine
Bandages, first aid, thermometers
- HSA eligible?
- Yes
- Why
- Medical supplies
Always and other menstrual care products
- HSA eligible?
- Yes
- Why
- Treated as medical care under IRC §223(d)(2)(A)
Hand sanitizer, masks, sanitizing wipes
- HSA eligible?
- Yes, with a condition
- Why
- See the section below
Contact lens solution, reading glasses
- HSA eligible?
- Yes
- Why
- Vision care
Prescriptions at the CVS Pharmacy
- HSA eligible?
- Yes
- Why
- Always qualified
Nature Made vitamins
- HSA eligible?
- No
- Why
- Pub 502 excludes supplements without a practitioner's recommendation for a diagnosed condition
Toothpaste, floss, deodorant
- HSA eligible?
- No
- Why
- Personal-use items
Everything else in the cart
- HSA eligible?
- No
- Why
- Not medical care
Nature Made is on Target's featured-brand list. A daily multivitamin is still not a qualified medical expense. The brand being in the shop does not change the rule. A Letter of Medical Necessity for a diagnosed condition does.
The Hand Sanitizer Rule
Target's FAQ names hand sanitizer as an example of an eligible item. Hand sanitizer qualifies under IRS Announcement 2021-7.
The announcement covers personal protective equipment "such as masks, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes." Bought "for the primary purpose of preventing the spread" of COVID-19, they are medical care under section 213(d). The announcement says those amounts are eligible under HSAs.
The condition is the purpose. The IRS tied the rule to preventing COVID-19. A bottle of sanitizer for that purpose qualifies.
The rule has not been withdrawn as of September 2026. Keep the receipt like any other.
The Three Receipts
Front-lane receipt. It lists each item with a price. One benefits-administration guide reports "FSA" and "H" markers beside eligible lines on some retail receipts. Treat that as a hint.
The proof is the line itself. Product, price, date, store.
CVS Pharmacy receipt. Where Target has a pharmacy, CVS Health runs it. Its receipt follows the CVS format, with an FSA-eligible summary near the bottom. The CVS receipt guide walks through it line by line.
Target.com order. The order confirmation and the order details page are the record. Save the order as a PDF from your account. For Drive Up and Order Pickup, the online order is the receipt, not the slip handed through the window.
To file any of the three:
- ●Find the eligible lines.
- ●Add them. Include the sales tax on those lines.
- ●Record that number, not the receipt total.
What to Do With the Receipt
Store receipts are thermal paper. They fade. Photograph the receipt the day you shop.
Tripl is an HSA receipt tracker. Snap the receipt from your phone or forward the Target.com order email. Tripl reads the merchant, the date, and the total.
Edit the total down to the eligible lines and add a note. It files under a health category with the image attached.
The receipt is stored in the cloud. Connect Google Drive or Dropbox and it mirrors to your own account too. Two copies, two places.
Tripl is $30 per year for the first 100 sign-ups. After that, $50 a year.
More in the Receipt Eligibility Series
- ●How to Tell If a Receipt Is HSA-Eligible
- ●CVS Receipts: Reading the FSA Eligible Summary
- ●Walgreens Receipts: The FSA Summary Block
- ●Walmart HSA Eligible Items and the Receipt That Proves It
- ●Costco HSA Eligible Items and How to Read the Receipt
- ●The Complete HSA-Eligible Expenses List
*This is educational content, not financial or tax advice. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions about your HSA.*