No, it's not just a NY thing...NC does it too....and the software will back-fill box 16 with the State Distribution amount on the "software" form right after you go thru that distribution page, even if your paper 1099-R has no box 16 entry.
When box 2a is empty/blank, the distribution amount usually needs to be entered as the value of box 1....or the Federally-taxable amount of box 1 if that is less than box 1 , and box 2a is empty. An empty box 2a is fairly common on IRA distributions.
NY does have a major issue with having NY withholding in box 14, and some people indicate no NY distribution....i.e. NY says you can't have NY withholding if the distribution didn't exist.
____________*Answers are correct to the best of my knowledge when posted, but should not be considered to be legal or official tax advice.*
