i tried to get the receiving firm to fix. they admitted it was a trustee to trustee transfer but said its too late to fix, now it looks like i made an excess contribution, can i report to the irs the issue with documents showing where the assets came from before i start getting notices from the irs?
You don't enter it under Deductions. It is not a new contribution. Did you already file? You only enter a 1099R if you got one.
A 1099-R is not issued for a trustee-to-trustee IRA transfer.
https://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/1099r_exclusion_worksheet_4012.pdf
It's never too late for the IRA custodian to fix a tax form that they know to be erroneous such as the Form 5498 in this case. The Form 5498 has a CORRECTED box for the IRA custodian to mark. However, if they accepted the deposit as a contribution and disagree with making an error in recording it as a contribution, that would be a different matter.