I receive a 1099R statement of Survivor Annuity paid Box 2a on my survivor annuity shows UNKNOWN AS TAXABLE AMOUNT what amount should it be

[MargaretL]

Is the 1099-R from OPM?

[vicki1941]

Yes

[rhbauman123]

1099 R survivor annuity box 2a taxable amount unknown

[08-26-1942]

what is the simplified method?

[MargaretL · Accepted solution]

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. This will ensure proper calculation of the taxable amount.

[studer-ann]

How do I get to the correct Form to enter the data?

[studer-ann]

Now what?

[studer-ann]

How do I gat back to income?

[cbwagner1]

I made the mistake of entering the non taxable amount in Box 2. How do I get back into my Turbo Tax to correct this error.

[Anita01]

Leave the field showing Unknown blank.

[turbokingmel]

If you receive an additional payment purchased by voluntary contributions (amount is listed at the bottom of CSA 1099R), realize that the amount listed in 9b ONLY includes your contributions for your regular annuity, not the voluntary contributions you made for the additional annuity.  If you don't , you're paying taxes again on all of your additional annuity.

[hookstom]

The posted answer is very complete but does not match my copy of Turbo Tax Home and Business and I am still struggling with my original question.

The form that I received for OPM is form CSF 1099R.

The Box 1 entry is $2460

The Box 2 entry is UNKNOWN

The Box 3 entry is NONE

The Box 7 entry is 4 - DEATH - BENEFIT

The Box 9b entry is 2730.69

My question is " is the Box 1 Gross distribution taxable or is it treated as a non-taxable survivor benefit?"

I will appreciate the assistance.

[JohnB5677]

Box 1 is taxable unless you enter a corrected amount in box 2a.  The IRS instructions state "Generally, you must enter the taxable amount in box 2a."

If the annuity was purchased with after-tax funds, then it’s non-qualified. Non-qualified annuities require tax payments on only the earnings.

The amount of taxes on non-qualified annuities is determined by something called the exclusion ratio. The exclusion ratio is used to determine what percentage of annuity income payments is taxable and how much is not. The idea is to determine the amount of a withdrawal or payment from an annuity is from the already-taxed principal and how much is considered taxable earnings.

Exclusion Ratio Example

• Your life expectancy is 10 years at retirement.
• You have an annuity purchased for $40,000 with after-tax money.
• Annual payments of $4,000 – 10 percent of your original investment – is non-taxable.
• You live longer than 10 years.
• The money you receive beyond that 10-year-life expectation will be taxed as income.

[Bob78]

Yes a CSA 1099-R