Can I write in EXEMPT in box 14 on the 1099-R form on this site?It is written in on my form but won't let me on the computer fill it in. It is asking for dollar amount

You appear to be signed up for LIVE service...your agent would know how to deal with it

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But...No you cannot.   If it is exempt in yoru state (like a public service/teacher's/police/fireman's pension), you deal with it being exempt from taxation...usually either on a page right after the 1099-R entry in the Federal section....or in the state Q&A (PA in particular)...but get all the Federal fully filled in first.

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Example: for NY, it's handled on a follow-up page in the Federal section, where you ID the exact source of the public pension:

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Box 14 is State Tax withheld. If it says Exempt then most likely your State doesn't have State Income Tax.  You can keep that box empty or blank and proceed to file.

If you do what you said, Turbotax taxes the income in their calculation and if you try and put in 0 for taxable income manually it removed the federal tax. This seems like a Turbotax bug.

@actieve 

For NY, in box 16, you MUST include a state distribution amount...a non-zero value.....even if it is empty on your actual 1099-R form.   

Then on the follow-up page similar to the picture I posted from a prior year, above, you select the NY state Retirement system that allows that $$ amount to be exempt.    If you enter zero in box 16, or leave it blank, then nothing is excluded from NY taxation...the software only knows what to exclude based on the box 16 value !

What is the value that goes in there?  If box 1 and 2a are the same $$ amount, then sue that value form box 1.

IF box 2a is a positive value (i.e. not zero and not blank) then I say that the value you use should be the box 2a value.  Others say it should be the box 1 value, but I say you cannot exclude more than was originally taxed in the Federal forms....which would be box 2a, again, only if box 2a has a nonzero value in it.  Usually if box 2a is lower than box 1, there is the difference noted in box 5.

(yep, it's possible I'm wrong about the box 1 vs box 2a....since I don't actually have the NY software loaded to double-check the details in exactly how it operates.