topic Missing 5498 and 1099-R forms for 401k rollover to traditional IRA and between traditional IRAs in Retirement tax questions

Missing 5498 and 1099-R forms for 401k rollover to traditional IRA and between traditional IRAs

maxheller — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 13:03:49 GMT

Good evening,

I did a review of my records and noticed that I have a few 5498 and 1099-R forms missing relating to several 401k rollovers into my traditional IRA and for rollovers between different traditional IRAs I was holding a while back. Could this become an issue with IRS at a later time when I take distributions from my IRA or should I be OK if I reported the rollovers properly in the past on my tax returns?

Thank you very much.

Cheers,

Max

Re: Missing 5498 and 1099-R forms for 401k rollover to traditional IRA and between traditional IRAs

MaryK4 — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 04:33:27 GMT

You do not receive a 1099-R for a trustee-to-trustee rollover, so if no check was sent to you to deposit, most likely this is what happened (you should still see it on the 5498). If you had nondeductible contributions, you must make sure the 8606s are filed with the IRS. If the IRA distributions will be fully taxable, there should not be a problem, but you may want to go to Topic No. 159 How to Get a Wage and Income Transcript or Copy of Form W-2 to get past years' Wage and Income Transcripts for your records. You will be able to get all of your 1099-Rs and 5498s.

Re: Missing 5498 and 1099-R forms for 401k rollover to traditional IRA and between traditional IRAs

dmertz — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 12:39:48 GMT

MaryK4 is correct that trustee-to-trustee transfers of IRAs are not reportable on either Form 1099-R or Form 5498. However, a 401(k) plan is indeed required to issue a Form 1099-R for a rollover from the 401(k) to an IRA and the IRA is required to report that rollover on Form 5498.

You apparently reported the rollovers correctly on you tax return. You should not be too concerned that you do not have your copies of the missing forms that reported rollovers from 401(k)s. The plan and the IRA custodian are required to file these forms with the IRS, so the IRS should already have these copies. However, having your own copies would make it easier to respond to the IRS if they ever do question anything about these rollovers.

The only thing that I might be concerned about is making sure that I documentation supporting the rollover of any after-tax amounts from a 401(k) to an IRA. These after-tax amounts must be reported as an adjustment to Form 8606 line 2 the first time you are required to file Part I of that form after making the rollover.