1099-R with both taxabale amount and "taxable amount not determined"

[epcot]

Yup. I've been arguing this with them for weeks now. They won't correct it, they've just said "fix it yourself" "do form 8606, but not actually" "well we marked 2b as not determined so you can just change it" - everything except issuing a corrected form. They didn't even remove the contributions I made at Betterment after the previous provider was purchased.

It honestly feels like I'm talking to a wall with them 😵

[dmertz]

The reporting that they have provided on these Forms 1099-R implies that they have not themselves done the calculation of taxable gains, instead apparently relying on the participant to do the calculation.  If they marked box 2b Taxable amount not determined to indicate this they should have left box 2a blank per the IRS instructions for Form 1099-R.  If they actually did do the calculation of taxable gains to be able to distribute the appropriate amount, they are required to show the taxable gains in box 2a and not mark box 2b Taxable amount not determined.

[epcot]

I’ve discussed exactly this with Tier 3 Betterment support to no effect 🤪 they insist they will not fix it and I’m supposed to just “do 8606 but not actually on the 8606 form and edit it yourself”.

awful place to deal with and incredibly frustrating they bought my previous provider because I never actually chose to deal with them

[taxmeplenty]

Sorry to hear about your troubles @epcot . As I wrote above, I'm trying the approach of "file the amendment as if I'd received the 1099-R I wish I had." Unfortunately I don't have a conclusion to this yet.

It turned out that I did have to paper file after all, as TurboTax feigns being able to e-file 2019 amendments, but when you go to actually push the button, claims "The IRS and state agencies are not currently accepting amended tax returns via e-file." This isn't true; the IRS does accept e-filed amended returns, including for 2019. If you dig, TurboTax admits in a help article that they are the ones limiting transmission. (This actually turned out to have a silver lining though, as after printing both my state and federal returns, I noticed TurboTax had a calculation bug on my state amendment. That turned into a separate effort to get resolved.)

The paper copies have been in the queue at the IRS for a few months now, but they have posted they are having delays processing them (their estimate is simply "more than 20 weeks"). It'll probably be a while before I can say if my approach went over with them.

[taxmeplenty]

I'm back to say how this played out.

In September, I got two notices from the IRS:

1. A notice, as expected, that I had overpaid my taxes and they were issuing a refund
2. A notice, unexpected, that I had underpaid my taxes and I owed them money

Thankfully, the former was for a greater sum than the latter. I deposited their check, wrote them a check for what they said I owed, and called it good. I did not receive an individualized letter or any kind of prose explanation of the situation. I do not know why there were two adjustments.

It's been several weeks since there has been any activity, so I believe this is finally settled. Thanks for the help @macuser_22 and everyone else in this thread.