Should 1099-R Survivor Annuity Pension from the Federal Government be listed as an RMD in TT?

[Wedding5500]

Hello,

My Dad worked for the Federal Government and received a monthly pension from OPM and a Form1099-R yearly.  He passed in July 2024 and my Mom has been receiving his monthly pension as a Survivor Annuity. She received her CSF 1099-R for this pension.

In TT, my Dad always listed his pension as an RMD and put the entirety of Box 1 (Gross Distribution) as the RMD amount that must be taken by 12/31 of every year.  Since this is a monthly pension, do I really need to say in TT that this is an RMD? Or can I just put $0 and move on to the next page?

Thank you very much.

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

Calling it an RMD is more technically correct because they are required distributions, but you can do it either way.  Treating the amount distributed as the amount of RMD required or indicating that no RMD was required will each prevent TurboTax from populating Form 5329 Part IX to report an excess accumulation.

[Wedding5500]

Hi @dmertz,

This makes sense, thank you!

I also realized I did the same thing with my Mom‘s small pensions on the 2024 return - I didn’t classify them as RMDs. 

This year, I’ll keep it consistent with the way my Dad did it, I’ll show all pensions as an RMD, but just need to make sure I don’t have to amend the 2024 return. 

I Googled Form 5320, and nothing comes up, what is that form for?

I appreciate you and your knowledge, thank you!

[dmertz]

"Form 5320"

I corrected my typo, Form 5329.

[Wedding5500]

@dmertz 

Got it, thank you.

Do I have to Amend their 2024 return?

Or can I leave 2024 as is and just click the RMD box for thier 2025 return?

Thank you!

[dmertz]

I don't see what you would need to amend on the 2024 tax return unless it mistakenly included a Form 5329 Part IX reporting an excess accumulation when distributions were actually sufficient.

[Wedding5500]

No Form 5329was generated in 2024. Awesome on not having to amend.

Thank you so much @dmertz !