I tried to report my (German) pension based on Turbotax recommendations by, alternatively, a) filling out a 1099-R and b) reporting it in "Miscellaneous Income" under "Other Reportable Income" which was considered the better alternative recommended by Turbotax (since payer ID cannot be left blank - a shortcoming of Turbotax) . While the result for "Federal Taxes" was identical in both alternatives, the effect on my New State Taxes was very negative in Alternative b). How can this be? Consequently, I prefer the 1099-R option and would require a Default or Blank Payer ID to work on Turbotax.
