SS Check received in January 2021 for May through December 2020

[EricM1]

I filed for the first time with SS in October 2020. They advised me they could pay amounts from May through December of 2020.  The check arrived in January 2021.  It will be expensive if that payment is added to my other 2021 payments, so I would prefer the income be posted to when it was earned in 2020. Is that possible?

Thank you.

[VolvoGirl]

Depends when they give you the SSA-1099 for it.  Did you get a SSA-1099 for 2020?  If they include it on next year's 2021 SSA-1099 it should be listed as a prior year lump sum.  That will get special treatment.  I don't know how that works.  

[EricM1]

They did not give me a 1099 but I did get a letter outlining that the payment was for May to December 2020. I contacted SS but the agent I talked to was stuck on that I just need to suck it up and assume it will be on the 1099 for 2021. When I asked how I could appeal, she said there was no way to. She sounded rather inexperienced, so I don't know if she was correct. Just don't know how to proceed.