I have a traditional IRA rollover but did not receive a 1099R to report it. How do I handle this? Where exactly in the program is this handled?

I think I'd bang away at the financial institution for a 1099R.  It was a withdraw from an IRA account, regardless if you rolled it over or pocketed the money.

You don't report rollover unless you have the form 1099-R. I recommend contacting your broker/administrator to verify if the Form 1099-R will be issued. 

However, if the direct rollover was made as a trustee-to-trustee transfer involving no payment or distribution to you, you should not be receiving Form 1099-R and there is nothing to report on your tax return. 

A direct rollover, which is the direct payment to you of an eligible rollover distribution to a traditional IRA or other eligible tax-qualified plan, is reported on Form 1099-R, which you should report in the retirement income section. You will be able to report the form and answer the following questions indicating rollover, which will result as a nontaxable transaction. 

Thank you for your response.  Just to be perfectly clear... when you say "if the direct rollover was made as a trustee-to-trustee transfer", this means directly from one financial institution to another right? I received absolutely no money with this transaction.

Yes, that's what it means.

OK. Great. One final question (I hope).  In order to follow up on the possibility of a 1099R being issued, should I be calling the original financial institution that gave up my IRA or the new one that now holds my IRA.  Thanks for all your help!

I  left a job in January 2020. One month later, I withdrew my total IRA account balance as a direct payment to me with 20% federal income tax withholding. The payment is considered an eligible rollover distrubution. I expected it to take a few months for me to receive the payment check, but it was mailed the day after I filed my federal 1040 so I received it one week after I filed federal 1040. Since 20% was already deducted from my payment, I don't know if I need to report it to the IRS and if it should go on my 2019 or my 2020 income tax form. I haven't received a 1099-R form yet if one is to be expected? IF it needs to go on my 2019 income tax form, I don't know which forms to submit to amend it. Would I need to add this as income since it was already taxed with 20% withholding?

A regular distribution that occurred in 2020 goes on your 2020 tax return, not your 2019 tax return, and generally has no effect on your 2019 tax return.  However, if you do not roll over the entire gross amount, it could affect the amount of Retirement Savings Contributions Credit you (or your spouse) might otherwise be eligible to receive on your 2019 tax return and would have to be included on 2019 Form 8880.

By rolling over, do you mean transferring it to another IRA account instead of withdrawing the total amount in payment directly to me? My 2019 tax return showed a low income savers credit of $150 for my IRA (same as Retirement Savings Contributions Credit?). Again, I filed my 2019 taxes before I received the check. Do I need to fill out form 8880 for 2019 or 2020?

Since the distribution was paid to you personally, a rollover of the entire gross amount would require that within 60 days of receipt of the distribution you deposit the money into another qualified retirement account like an IRA.

Yes, "Savers Credit" is a common nickname for the Retirement Savings Contribution Credit calculated on Form 8880.  If you do not roll your recent distribution over, you'll have to file an amended tax return (Form 1040-X) along with an amended 2019 Form 8880 to account for this distribution reducing the amount of the credit originally calculated on this form (assuming that you did not already include this distribution on line 4 of this form), and pay the balance due.  It may end up being that the entire credit is disallowed and you'll have a balance due of $150 with your amendment.  (This is an anti-abuse provision to prevent you from taking money out of a retirement account just to put it back in just to get the credit without actually increasing your retirement savings.  This applies even if you take the money out after filing but before the due date of your tax return, as you did in this case.)

Be aware that you are only allowed one rollover in a 365-day period (actually 366 days since this is a leap-year).

Although I didn't receive a 1099-R in the mail, I need to amend my 2019 taxes or not wait until I receive a 1099-R in the mail to include it in 2020 instead of 2019 taxes? I was confused by somethng I read about receiving the distribution in the past 12 months. When I file my 2020 taxes, the payment would be in the past 12 months. I took the money out because it was less than $1000 or wouldn't earn much interest over time because further contributions can't be made to it unless you're still employed there. I don't know much about IRAs, but 20% would still be withheld if I trannsferred it to another IRA? I don't know how to find another IRA, but I think I'll just keep the money.

First, because 20% was withheld for taxes, I suspect that the employer plan was a qualified retirement plan like a 401(k), not and IRA.  You'll want to be clear on the type of plan that the employer had because unlike IRA-to-IRA rollovers there are no limitations on how frequently you can do a rollovers from a qualified retirement plan.

This distribution in 2020 likely disqualifies you for some of the credit that you received on your 2019 tax return, so yes, you need to amend your 2019 tax return.

The 20% has already been withheld and that will be credited to you on your 2020 tax return.  To be able to roll that 20% over by the 60-day deadline you'll have to substitute other funds.

If you are under age 59½, just keeping the money will subject the entire amount, including the 20% withheld for taxes, to ordinary income tax plus a 10% early-distribution penalty on your 2020 tax return in addition to probably eliminating the $150 credit on your 2019 tax return.  Losing that much money by not rolling over the funds is generally not the best financial decision.

I am under 59. It must be a 401k or it is government thrift savings plan. I thought since I had savings ir was saving in 2019, it would not apply to my 2019 taxes. It is 2020 when I withdrew the money. It had 3% interest which isn't much on $700, and they said I could no longer and they would no longer add contributions to it after I left the company. 

---

@matt666666 wrote:

I am under 59. It must be a 401k or it is government thrift savings plan. I thought since I had savings ir was saving in 2019, it would not apply to my 2019 taxes. It is 2020 when I withdrew the money. It had 3% interest which isn't much on $700, and they said I could no longer and they would no longer add contributions to it after I left the company. 

---

If you received a distribution from a tax deferred retirement account in 2020 you will receive a Form 1099-R in January 2021 reporting the distribution.  You enter the Form 1099-R on your 2020 tax return next year.

It makes more sense to report what I received this year next year. So, I still keep the $150 Saver's Credit then? 

No.  The fact that you received the distribution in 2020 before the due date of your 2019 tax return (and you choose not to roll it over) requires that the distribution be present on line 4 of your 2019 Form 8880.  You must amend if your filed Form 8880 does not show that.  The fact that the distribution is taxable on your 2020 tax has nothing to do with this.  This distribution affects both your 2019 and 2020 tax returns.  It will also affect your 2021 and 2022 tax returns if you would be eligible for this credit in those years.

I think I had a choice to transfer or withdraw it. Since I already withdrew it with 20% taxes withheld, would I still need to amend my 2019 taxes if I placed the payment into a new 401k or IRA? However, another 20% would probably be deducted from it when I withdrew it in the future (that would be a total oss of 40%)? I don't know anything about 401k or IRAs so I'm not sure how to create one on my own. My former employer automatically set it up for all employees. 

When I amend my 2019 1040 form, everything will the same? The only form I need to edit is the 8880 form? Do you know how I can find out if I still qualify for the Saver's Credit? I use automated tax software that calculates it for ne, but amended forms can't be submitted electronically so it won't be automatically calculated for me. 

"would I still need to amend my 2019 taxes if I placed the payment into a new 401k or IRA?"

No, as long as you roll over the entire box 1 amount.

The 20% withheld for taxes will be credited on your 2020 tax return, it's not gone.  By doing the rollover and avoiding the income tax and penalty liability on your 2020 tax return, you'll get a larger refund (or lower balance due) when you file your 2020 tax return.

There are many financial institutions that offer traditional and Roth IRAs.  I suggest finding one with low or no fees relative to the amount you roll over.

If you don't roll over the distribution, the point of amending your 2019 tax return is that it will not be the same because Form 8880 must change.  To find out if your credit is reduced or entirely lost, prepare the amendment.  Doing so will cause the credit to be recalculated; the software can't provide forms for mailing without doing the calculation.  If you find that that credit remains unchanged (because the amount of your retirement contributions for 2019 were more than $2,000 greater than the amount of your recent distribution, which seems unlikely given the information you have already provided).

When filling out Form 8880, I don't know which amount to put. The total amount without the 20% taxes withheld or the check payment amount I received with the 20% taxes withheld?

The total amount, the box 1 amount.

Thanks. Since I elected to withdraw instead of transfer my 401k, how will the IRS know that I deposited that cashed check into another savings plan? They might know I did if I initially transfered it. 

If you deposit the money into an IRA as a rollover, the IRA custodian will issue a Form 5498 reporting the receipt of the rollover.  If you roll the funds over to another employer's plan like a 401(k), you must include an explanation statement with your tax return to indicate that you rolled it over.  In either case your 2020 tax return must include the ROLLOVER notation on line 4d, which TurboTax will do automatically when you indicate to TurboTax that you rolled the distribution over to an IRA or to a 401(k).

So, if I deposited money into an IRA account, I wouldn't need to amend my 2019 taxes?

And I'm not sure if I would be taxed for a Roth IRA (need to amend 2010 taxes), but not a Traditional IRA based on the information below.

"You would roll your 401(k) money to a traditional IRA, and then convert to a Roth. Keep in mind that when moving regular 401(k) or IRA money to a Roth, generally income taxes are due at that point."

I had a similar question regarding your response here, that perhaps you can help me with. I had my work savings plan rolled over to an IRA in July. I only received a copy of the 5498 form but no 1099-R and I that was all that was available at the Financial Website. Basically the money was rolled over in the same institution and I have not invested it. So it has not been distributed, invested nor have I made  interest on it. My understanding from what I have read is that the 5498 is the form the institution uses to report to IRS....that it is not taxable but needs to be reported while filing. I guess I am having a hard time understanding where it is noted. There are all these different places but they say only fill out based on 1099-R. I assume because it's currently not reinvested, stagnant so to speak, it is not doing anything other than having it's own value. So basically I'mjust asking, do you know where I should add that amount? Thanks

GREYvee, perhaps your employer's plan was a SEP or SIMPLE IRA, in which case the movement of the account would be a simple non-reportable trustee-to-trustee transfer of the account (and generally would have not been necessary to move), in which case the Form 5498 should also not show it in any of the boxes except box 5 (FMV).

If the employer plan was a 401(a), 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), ESOP or the federal TSP, reporting on both Forms 1099-R and 5498 is required and you must to contact the plan to obtain the missing Form 1099-R.  Other than to inform you of the FMV and any requirement to take an RMD, the Form 5498 is mainly used to confirm to the IRS that you made a contribution to the IRA, in this case a rollover contribution.  It is not needed for preparing your tax return.  Only the Form 1099-R is reported on your tax return, along with answering the questions to indicate what you did with the distribution.