Nope....You can't do that. Having the zero makes all the income Federally non-taxable (removed from line 5b in the 1040) and it is Federal taxable income. and who knows what that would do on the various state tax returns....I think some use box 2a, and some use box 1 on the 1099-R.
And it happens on my test return without that box being checked.....it would not be checked on most all Military Retirement 1099-R forms (guess there could be exceptions) .
As a "workaround" just saying "No" to the did you receive any before age 59.5 is safer and simpler.
____________*Answers are correct to the best of my knowledge when posted, but should not be considered to be legal or official tax advice.*
