Retirement tax questions

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@pattie16 wrote:

I am in the same boat.  Turbo Tax needs to do a better job with going through this Form - particularly if this is from the federal Office of Personnel Management (CSA Form 1099R) - for federal retirees.  Box 2a says "Unknown" - but when entering data into Turbo Tax,, you cannot enter that word (or any letters) for Box 2a - you can only enter numbers - and if you leave it blank, you then come up with the conclusion and a warning note when you finish entering everything else for the form,  that you meant "0" and that NONE of the distribution is taxable, and a cautionary question do you want to change this. Turbo Tax and I know that this is not probably true.  In my case I have used up all my Total Employee Contributions (Box 9B) over the years, so I presume I should have entered the entire amount of the gross distributions (Box 1), into Box 2a, despite that number not entered on the CSA-Form1099R issued to me. Over the years Turbo Tax calculated the taxable portion using the simplified method when the taxable portion was "Unknown" so it would seem that Turbo Tax should carry over the entire Box 2a amount into Box 2b,  since it has been all taxable for some years now.  Or, Turbo Tax should work with OPM to get them to enter the entire amount into 2b, since OPM knows all the employee contributions have been distributed.That is probably a CSA 1099-R from OPM.

OPM violates the 1099-R rules by writing "helpful" information in the box rather than just the value or code like they are supposed to. OPM has done that for years and it causes more confusion than help. They put UNKNOWN in box 2a when it should be blank, and put "7 NONDISABILITY" in box 7 when is should only be "7", "1" or "2".

The taxable amount in box 2a is usually the box 1 amount unless you have after-tax contributions in the retirement plan and use the simplified method. If this is NOT the first year of receiving payments, then you should use the same method that was used last year - either the box 1 amount or the simplified method, using the carry forward simplified information from last year.

If box 2a is blank or UNKNOWN then there should be amount in box 9b to use with the simplified method. If no amount in 9b then contact OPM to find the account "basis".

Enter a 1099-R here:

Federal Taxes,
Wages & Income
I’ll choose what I work on (if that screen comes up),
Retirement Plans & Social Security,
IRA, 401(k), Pension Plan Withdrawals (1099-R).

OR Use the "Tools" menu (if online version under My Account) and then "Search Topics" for "1099-R" which will take you to the same place.

Be sure to choose which spouse the 1099-R is for if this is a joint tax return.
Be sure to pick the correct 1099-R type: Standard 1099-R, CSA-1099-R, CSF-1099-R, RRB-1099-R.

[NOTE: When you get to the "Your 1099-R Entries" screen where you can add another 1099-R, use "continue" to keep going as there are additional interview questions after that screen in most cases. You can always return as shown above.]

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