topic SSA-1099 OAO in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

SSA-1099 OAO

LWes — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 15:56:54 GMT

My husband received a SSA-1099 for his deceased father. Box 1 is my husbands SSN. Box 2 has my husbands name, followed by OAO. Box 7, husbands name followed by OAO on the 1st row, 2nd row has his fathers name followed by deceased, followed by my husbands address.

I think we have figured out already this is income to us and we need to include it on our own joint tax return. What we aren't sure about is when I start going through the questions on TurboTax, is whether this is considered a lump sum payment? And then it asks what year it's from. His father died in 2024, but box 3 on the 1099 states "Benefits for 2025." Is this considered a lump sum, and do I use 2024 or 2025 as the year?

Re: SSA-1099 OAO

DavidD66 — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 01:16:38 GMT

I assume that this is more than just the last month's benefit payment. If that is correct and the payment represents a one-time payment of retroactive benefits covering multiple months or years, then yes, they are a lump-sum payment. If the payment only covers a single or a few months benefits (as opposed to multiple years) then I would skip the lump-sum payment section and having to figure the tax as if it was received in a previous year(s). If it says Benefits for 2025, you would have to put 2025 for the year.

Re: SSA-1099 OAO

LWes — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 15:53:26 GMT

Thank you David. That's part of the problem, we don't actually know what this was for. We are assuming it's some sort of beneficiary payment but the statement only said "Benefit for 2025" with no other info. I just looked up a copy of the actual check and a note at the bottom states "Soc Sec For Ins." I remember I had tried calling the SS office a while back and they were of little help, just basically telling me that something was owed and it went to my husband as my father-in-laws beneficiary. I'm just concerned that if we don't categorize this correctly then it might mess up our taxes, either overpaid or underpaid. It's not huge $$s but we certainly don't want trouble with the IRS for not handling it properly. Does it ultimately matter if we choose lump sum payment or not? Do you know how that impacts the calculation of taxes?