The taxable amount is calculated for you, based on your form's entries and follow up questions.
First, let's make sure that the form is entered correctly, not as a regular pension.
Please follow the steps below to enter CSA 1099-R.
1. Federal Taxes
2. Wages & Income, Jump to Full list
3. Scroll down and select IRA, 401(k), Pension Plans. On the screen Tell Us Which 1099-R you Have please be sure to select CSA-1099-R Civil Service survivor annuity (if you are survivor, but not the original owner). Select Continue and you will see automatically filled in information on OPM. Select Continue again and you will see Enter Annuity Information screen. You will be prompted to data entry and additional questions about your annuity.
Second, please be sure that the Form 1099-R is entered into Turbo Tax exactly as it appears (all fields, including the contributions); don't change any boxes, if they are blank or have "zeros" in them, please leave the fields in Turbo Tax blank. Also, leave the field showing Unknown blank. This will ensure proper calculation of the taxable amount.
The taxable amount is calculated for you, based on your form's entries and follow up questions.
First, let's make sure that the form is entered correctly, not as a regular pension.
Please follow the steps below to enter CSA 1099-R.
1. Federal Taxes
2. Wages & Income, Jump to Full list
3. Scroll down and select IRA, 401(k), Pension Plans. On the screen Tell Us Which 1099-R you Have please be sure to select CSA-1099-R Civil Service survivor annuity (if you are survivor, but not the original owner). Select Continue and you will see automatically filled in information on OPM. Select Continue again and you will see Enter Annuity Information screen. You will be prompted to data entry and additional questions about your annuity.
Second, please be sure that the Form 1099-R is entered into Turbo Tax exactly as it appears (all fields, including the contributions); don't change any boxes, if they are blank or have "zeros" in them, please leave the fields in Turbo Tax blank. Also, leave the field showing Unknown blank. This will ensure proper calculation of the taxable amount.
@violetroses67 you are commenting on a 2 year old post.
You must determine the taxable amount on a CSA 1099-R if box 2a does not have a dollar amount. If this is not the first year year you have received a pension, then you must use the same method that was used in 2017 - otherwise you use the box 2a amount (which makes it all taxable) or the simplified method if you have non-taxable basis in the pension. If not sure - contact the plan administrator.
How do I use the simplified method? What is the simplified method. Turbo tax says I don’t have to calculate that myself but evidently I do.
@violetroses67 - You don't calculate is yourself but you do need to know if you are qualified to use it and you can provide the amounts to enter.
See IRS Pub 575 page 12 for the simplified method if you have a cost basis in the retirement plan. If you are not sure if you have a cost basis, contact the plan administrator.
(Normally the administrator would provide that information).
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p575.pdf">https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p575.pdf</a>
Sadly, Turbo tax doesn't calculate the taxable amount. I will have to probably use another tax software or have tax agent do my taxes moving forward.
As noted above above by macuser_22, TurboTax will do the calculations once you enter the information (which you can get from your plan administrator). You just need to know if you have a non-taxable basis in the plan. If you do what is it?
It's 2021
I'm using TurboTax Deluxe
I'm in my sixth year of receiving OPM retirement
I know what my Total Employee Contributions are
Last year TurboTax calculated my taxable amount
It's not calculating it now.
It asked for my contributions and I entered it
At the end of INCOME SECTION it questioned a zero taxable amount for OPM!!!
Now what??
@TruckeeRiverJohn Click this link for info on entering your CSA-1099R. with Box 2a marked 'Unknown'.
You may need to Delete/Re-Enter your CSA-1099R to regenerate the proper follow-up questions.
I think Turbo Tax has a real problem with this section. I retired in 2005. I used Tax Act since then. 2018, Tax Act screwed me by accepting my money plus my e-file charge and notified me a day later that the e-file was rejected. I missed that notification. So now the IRS got my check because I owed taxes, but not the Return. That was really fun straightening it out with the IRS--no help from Tax Act..I changed to Turbo Tax this year and have run into this CSA 1099R problem. I entered Box1 as Gross Distribution and Box 2a as" Taxable Income". Turbo Tax shows the Gross Amt as my income and will not allow me to correct it..They ask ridiculous question such as "Did you take all of this as an RMD"...This is my pension, NOT an IRA.
Yes, a pension's RMD is built into the distribution amount, unlike an IRA. However, the RMD was abolished for 2020, so you want to mark that none of it was RMD. In a normal year, you would mark that all of it was RMD.
Return to the 1099R and check your box 2. Be sure the total distribution box is not checked!! Review your answers. The gross amount would not be coming across without a reason.
In the area describe the taxable amount - is the taxable annuity equal to the dross distribution and is this the taxable amount?
@Jen71 The taxable amount should be listed in box 2(a) "Taxable Amount."
In the 2021 Turbotax it puts $0.00 in 2a and uses the short form to calculate the taxable amount, but then later says that none of the income is taxable and that skews the whole form. For instance, because I have so little income it uses the standard deduction even though I have many more deductions than that. It just seems to miss a step someewhere
Box 2a of Form 1099-R should match whatever is shown on your paper Form 1099-R. If it is blank, then leave it blank. The taxable amount will be calculated based on your other entries in that section of your return.
With regard to the standard deduction being used even though you have many more itemized deductions to claim, if the bottom line income tax calculation is the same using either the standard deduction or itemized deductions, then the standard deduction will be used by TurboTax. There is no additional benefit to using itemized deductions and no need to file unnecessary forms with your return.
The problem is that Turbotax puts $0.00 in box 2a and even though it calculates the taxable amount it still says...all the way to the end...that none of the income is taxed. Therefore my taxable income only comes out 1450 rather than the 40k it should be. I don't know how to change that. They get all the correct information for the calculation from my previous year, so they should do it correctly. They just don't use it after they calculate it.
By the way, box 2a on all CSA-1099R's is marked "unknown" which is why it is so hard to transfer to Turbotax.
When your CSA-1099R is entered you should be sure to follow through on the questions if the amount in box 2a is zero. The simplified method of determining the taxable amount should be selected. In order to reach that question you must answer 'No, a different amount is taxable'. See the image below.
Be prepared with the necessary information to allow TurboTax to calculate the accurate taxable amount.
I will try yet again, but Turbotax pulls the information on the simplified method from my 2020 return and shows it on the screen. It shows 12 months as the number for 2021 but then ignores it and still says it is all untaxable. (because Turbotax repaced the "Unknown" with $0.00)
Thanks for the help.
That's not what I get. It asks if the numbers in box 1 and box 2a are correct. If I say no, a note pops up and says:
"Review the numbers below and make any necessary changes.:
box 1 Gross distribution
box 2 taxable amount. 0.00
There is no way to ask for a different amount. If you try to change the 0's it takes you to a box that asks you to put in an amount. If you don't put in an amount it puts 0.00 back in. Then as you go to the next steps it shows the whole amount as untaxable.
I don't know why in a previous step it shows the simplified method filled in with all the info, but then doesn't use it.
Keep your information together with your return and put the correct taxable amount in box 2a. You can check last year's return worksheet if you aren't sure. This should tax the appropriate taxable amount, then answer the following question 'Yes, the taxable annuity amount was used as the taxable amount ". This will work.
The tax free amount will be the same for each month until you recover your cost. IRS Guide to US Civil Service Benefits
Well, you helped me in a roundabout way. You asked me to look at my 2020 worksheet, which made me search for the 2021 worksheet, since they had shown the figures. I found it under the CSA-1099r form and lo and behold it had calculated the taxable amount. Why it didn't carry it through to the steps of the process I'll never know. It must be a bug in the program.
Thank you very much for sticking with me. It has been very frustrating, and you have been a positive light.
Ken