Calculating the taxable amount of my government pension

[junie1251]

I've been retired for nearly 6 years and have used Turbo Tax since that time. For some reason this year Turbo Tax asked questions about how the taxable amount of my pension was calculated.  Am I supposed to have information on my plan's cost, tax free amount recovered, death benefit exclusion, etc. etc., readily available?? Can someone tell me where this info is located?? My old personnel/payroll office maybe?? Thanks for any information.

J. Green

[BillM223]

Up until the teens (2010+), the IRS did not require plan administrators to preserve this information - so you had to (although I agree that this was not widely known).

However, the fact that you have a government pension may work to your advantage, given every bureaucracy's inclination to keep records.

In cases where the plan administrator knows the basis of your plan, the 1099-R is often printed with the taxable amount in box 2a...so, did last year's 1099-R have an amount in box 2a? In the 1099-R interview, at some point, you may be asked did you use the amount in box 2a as the taxable amount last year?

This does lead to my next question - why didn't you get asked these questions last year? Can you dig up your last several returns and see what happened?

[junie1251]

Thanks so much for that prompt reply. Yes, each year since retirement my plan has provided that information in box 2a. So my question is, why is TurboTax asking me how THEY arrived at that figure?? It would seem that if retirees will have to provide that detailed information, then TurboTax would announce that retired customers will need to have that information at their fingertips. Just seems to me that a DIY tax preparer (me) wouldn't be expected to know that.