Why is my pension treated differently from year to year? One year it is a pension next year it is a IRA withdrawal.

[zeusfan]

My pension is a set amount. I did not contribute to it. I receive a 1099R for it. Turbo Tax swaps it back and forth from a pension to a IRA withdrawal every year. This seems to effect the taxes pay.

[ColeenD3]

If you click the box that designates the 1099-R as an IRA, it will be treated as an IRA. Be careful when you are entering your information.

[Texas Roger]

As long as the IRA/SEP/SIMPLE box is not checked on the 1099-R you received and you did not check the box when entering the form, TurboTax will not treat the distribution as an IRA. The thing that often confuses people is that TurboTax asks if the distribution is an RMD whether the distribution was from a pension or an IRA. Generally all pension distributions are considered RMDs even though you don't technically take it like you would an RMD from an IRA. So you would answer yes that the distribution of a monthly pension payment is an RMD.