As a retiree, I receive monthly payments from my United Nations' pension. Don't get a 1099-R. What should I answer on Box 7?

[marigot6]

As the United Nations Pension Fund doesn't send me a 1099-R form, if I try to input the information on the section for 1099-R, I can't go further as I don't know what to answer on box 7. Also, UNPF doesn't inform me which is the taxable amount. Please, help.

Thanks!

Eleana

[KittyM]

You don't need to create a substitute 1099-R for your foreign pension.  Delete the 1099-R you have created and enter it as "Other Income."  (Instructions are below.)  The end tax result will be identical to the results you achieve with the substitute 1099-R.

To enter your foreign pension on your return, follow the instructions below:

• Choose the Federal return and the Wages & Income tab.
• Scroll down to Less Common Income and Show more.
• Choose Miscellaneous Income, 1099-A, 1099-C.
• Choose Other Reportable Income and say Yes.
• Even though the screen says "Do not enter income reported on Form 1099-MISC", this is where you will enter the description "Foreign Pension" and the amount you received.

[ConwayP]

I have a similar issue.  In addition to receiving a UN pension I live in NY state where pensions are deductible up to $20,000.  As far as I can tell, in TurboTax there is no way to adjust your gross income when you do your NY state tax return UNLESS it is listed with a 1099-R in your Federal return.   Is there a solution to this?

[Jordan Mike]

Very helpful 

Do you need to report the whole income (annual income) or only half? 

[ReneeM7122]

You would enter the entire amount, but you need to enter federal and state separately.

Here are the steps to enter your exempt New York State employee pension:

On the  Federal Income Tax  portion:

1. In the search or find box, type in 1099-R
2. Click on Jump to 1099-R
3. Scroll down to Retirement Plans and Social Security
4. At IRA,401(k), Pension Plan Withdrawals (1099-R), click Start (or Update)
5. Enter your 1099-R or if you have entered it, click on Edit then Continue
6. Answer the next questions until you get to the Where Is This Distribution From? screen
7. Select the source New York State Employees and enter the information requested:
8. Click on Continue
9. Click on From a Qualified Plan
10. Continue answering the questions

On the New York State return portion: 

1. At the Changes to Federal Income page, scroll down to Received retirement income, click Start (or Update)
2. At the Retirement Distributions Summary page, click on Edit New York State
3. If no additional information is required, click on Continue
4. Click on Done

Review the Pension Deduction Summary for the deduction.

Here's a TurboTax article about tax tips for retirement, including taxable and nontaxable pensions.

[japiucci57]

Do you enter the total figure here or only the taxable amount?

[ColeenD3]

@japiucci57

Enter the 1099-R exactly as it appears. You need to enter every piece of information.

[japiucci57]

The United Nations, my former employer, cannot issue U.S. tax forms, such as the 1099-R. We receive a statement of benefits, which is accepted by the IRS but is not the same thing. Last year I was able to enter my pension information in Turbotax, but now there are a couple of places where I can't proceed without entering info specific to the 1099-R. I was advised to enter my retirement income under Miscellaneous Income instead, but if I do that, Turbotax doesn't calculate the New York pension exclusion, raising my state taxes significantly. This version of Turbotax simply doesn't work for UN retirees. It's a shame, I will miss it.

[Scraggyneck1953]

The reply is incorrect. UN pension income is not foreign income. 

[Anonymous]

actually, it is "foreign income" - though technically it is "foreign organization income" when it is earned income, at retirement it is a "foreign pension", as it is not a US pension.  

I would think entering the 1099-R substitute and considering it "code 7" (normal distribution) would work to give you the proper results - ordinary retirement income for the US (as there is no treaty that exempts NGO organization pensions from federal tax, in whole or in part) but it would then be treated as excludable in NY. The other way to address it is to simply override the taxable nature on the NY return, but that can create its own issues. 

[MarilynG1]

If you create a substitute 1099-R, you may have problems Efiling.  Plus, since the IRS does 'document matching' they won't have a 1099-R for you, so you may get a letter. 

Per @ReneeM7122 above, the way around this is to enter your pension as described in Miscellaneous Income, 'Other Reportable Income' and type in the description. 

Then, to get the New York Pension Exclusion, 

"On the New York State return portion: 

1. At the Changes to Federal Income page, scroll down to Received retirement income, click Start (or Update)
2. At the Retirement Distributions Summary page, click on Edit New York State
3. If no additional information is required, click on Continue
4. Click on Done

Review the Pension Deduction Summary for the deduction."

[japiucci57]

I tried this, and it doesn't work. If you haven't entered the 1099-R information in the Federal form, you can't access the pension section of the New York State form.