A 1099-R form box 5 amt shows much more than box 1-box 2a. What is this? It's not related to insurance or 401k. it's from PERA in CO

[DanO]

The amount in box 5 is a contribution made to a retirement fund that works as a substitute for Social Security for members of  Colorado PERA which stands for Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association. This association provides retirement and other benefits to the employees of over 500 government agencies and public entities.

These would include the state of Colorado government, public school teachers, many of the university and college employees, judges, city and town employees, State Troopers, and many other public entities.

Click here for information pertaining to Colorado PERA

[dmertz]

There are certain situations where the amount in box 5 is can be more than the difference between the amounts in boxes 1 and 2a.  These situations would typically have a zero in box 2a.  This would be relatively common for a direct rollover reported with code G or code H where the rollover makes the distribution entirely nontaxable..

[DanO]

Thank you for added information.