Form 1099-R, what am I doing wrong?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
January 28, 2021
1 reply
6 views

I retired and receive a monthly pension from Calif. Public Employees Retirement Sys. I receive a Form 1099-R.

Every year I use TurboTax and every year I get confused on what I am about to ask:

I enter the Form 1099-R data on this retirement income, then TurboTax starts asking questions "Tell Us More About This Retirement Plan Distribution" It goes on to talk about I need to take a required minimum amount of money ... .

It goes on to say select one of the following:

I received all the required RMD for 2020.

I did not receive all the required RMD for 2020,

I was not required to take an RMD for 2020.

What is all this about? TurboTax seems to think the 1099-R is for a Traditional IRA, not a retirement pension. How am I supposed to answer these questions?

Did I check a wrong box somewhere?

I go thru this every year.

Glenn

DaveF1006

Level 15

Yes, since California Retirement Income is reported on a 1099-R, it will ask about RMD distributions. The reason why it is asking about RMD distributions is that you are over the required age for taking distributions from your retirement plan.

This year, you were not required to take a Required Minimum Distribution. Turbo Tax will ask the question anyway and if some of that money you receive every year is a Required Minimum Distribution, you would indicate yes and then report what amount was the RMD.

For future reference, you can either look at your RMD statement to find out what the RMD is or contact the trustee of your RMD account to find out what your Required Minimum Distribution amount was for the year. This year, if you indicate that none of the distribution was a RMD, you won't get penalized because there was no RMD requirement. In future years however, check with your trustee or read your summary statement so you can answer the questions. Did you receive all the RMD for 20...? Chances are you did.

[Edited 01-28-2021|05:07 PST]

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