If you're not receiving your 401(a) as monthly payments for life, you won't use the "General Rule" or the "Simplified Method." Those methods are meant for people with recurring pension payments. If you took a lump sum or an early withdrawal, the calculation is much more straightforward.
If you see these questions, it likely means you selected "Pension" or "Annuity" instead of "Retirement Plan Distribution" on your 1099-R. Head back to the beginning of the 1099-R section. Make sure you didn’t mark this as an "Annuity" that starts now and pays you for life. Instead, select Financial institution or other provider (1099R).
My suggestion is to first remove the 1099R you entered before making that selection so that you have a clean copy to enter. Here is the best way if you are using TurboTax online
- Go to tax tools
- Tools
- Delete a form
- Delete all 1099R and any worksheets associated with it
If you use the desktop version, go to the forms mode and select 1099R in the left pane. The form will appear in the right-pane and you can delete the form at the bottom of the page. Do the same for all worksheets that are associated with the 1099R.
